Sins of the Father
by Phx
Summary: Where are Laura and Joe? As Fenton and Frank rush home from the Family Reunion, they are haunted by that very question. And then when Tony Prito also goes missing... the mystery grows. Completed.


_This takes place right after Family. As always, I don't own the right to the Hardy Boys or their family and friends and am making no money from this. I only write because I love "da boys" and enjoy making up my own adventures for them._

_This segment was tentatively entitled 'Stolen' but by the end of the piece, it needed a new name… _

**Sins of the Father**

Frank Hardy frowned as he looked at the receiver for a few minutes before hanging up.

"What's wrong Frank?" His Aunt Gertrude asked as she saw the concerned look on his nephew's face. Frank and his father, Fenton Hardy, had stayed at the family reunion for a couple of extra days while Frank's younger brother, Joe, and their mother had driven back a couple of days earlier.

Frank had called his brother to give him their flight information as they were flying home tomorrow and was surprised when nobody answered. Then he had tried Joe's cell phone and started to get worried when Joe didn't answer – his brother usually had the phone with him.

"I just tried to call Joe and he didn't answer", he said slowly trying to fight the sense of dread starting to sweep over him. His aunt tried to make him feel a bit better.

"Well you know how Joe is – he probably just forgot to take his phone with him. Don't worry Frank – he's okay at home. Try calling a little later", she said patting his hand reassuringly before going outside to get some fresh air.

_She's right_, he sighed and then found himself feeling irritated at Joe's irresponsibility. _He should have known I would be worried if I couldn't get hold of him_, he thought as he could imagine Joe's cell phone being carelessly left on the bed or in the truck or something.

"I'm having the biggest party ever!" 8-year-old Patrick Hardy beamed as he raced into the kitchen looking for Frank. Patrick took after his mother who was of Italian descent and kind of reminded Frank a bit of his own friend, Tony Prito, with olive colored skin, dark hair and eyes almost as black as coal. _He's going to be a heartbreaker when he gets older_, Frank thought as the door slammed behind the kid.

After finding out that Frank and him shared the same birthday, Patrick had become Frank's little shadow and the older boy didn't mind. Between Patrick and Jesse, Mercedes' daughter who was just as fascinated with researching their family tree, he was kept busy so he didn't have too much time to worry about Joe or think about Callie.

"Where's your sister?" He asked the little boy, as usually 6-year-old Amelia wasn't too far behind.

"Mommy is showing her how to milk a cow", Patrick said quickly because he wanted to talk about more important things, "I'm inviting all my friends and we are going to have it at Chuckie Cheese's! What are you going to do?"

"I don't know…I hadn't really thought about it", which was true. Although Frank's 19th birthday was only a week away, he hadn't given it much thought…but Joe had, "my brother is planning it – kind of a surprise, I guess". Joe had taken over all plans to do with the party just after he had gotten home from the hospital and only told Frank that he had to show up. Frank was curious to see what Joe was planning as he had everyone, including their parents, in on it. All he knew is that it was being held at the Morton's farm.

When Patrick heard about the surprise party he immediately turned and ran from the kitchen hollering at his parents, "MOM! DAD! I WANT A SURPRISE PARTY TOO!" Making Frank shake his head. Patrick reminded him of Joe and that reminded him about how worried he was.

He decided to use another tactic. When he had talked to Joe after he and their mother had gotten back into Bayport, Joe had said that Vanessa and her mom were still in Vancouver, BC where they had gone to a cartoon convention and wouldn't be back until Sunday evening - a few hours after Frank and Fenton. So Frank decided to call Joe's best friend, Biff Hooper to see if he had been talking to his brother recently.

_**phx**_

With blond hair and blue eyes, muscular Biff Hooper rivaled Joe Hardy in the eyes of most of the girls at Bayport High. But Biff was bigger then Joe with hair a shade darker and pale blue eyes while Joe's eyes were a very bright, intense blue.

"Come on Sherlock", he called to his young bloodhound, "Let's go see Joe!"

Biff was training the dog for search and rescue and Joe had promised to help him this afternoon. They were going to go by the Morton's farm to use the back woods for Joe to hide in while Sherlock was supposed to track him. After Tony finished work he was also dropping by to help Joe, Biff and Chet clean out the old barn that Mr. Morton said they could use for Frank's party.

Joe had asked the senior Mortons' if they could use the old barn because he knew it would be a great place for the party. He had already arranged to borrow tables and chairs from the church and arranged for a couple of Frank's friends who had a band to play for the dance.

Mr. and Mrs. Morton had been delighted when Joe asked if they could have the party there. Before Iola's death the Morton farm had been alive with parties almost every month but now, while they still did have the occasional event, there had been nothing close to what Joe was planning for a long time.

The old barn did need to be cleaned up and hosed out so the boys immediately stepped up to the task. And they were looking forward to spending some time with Joe as the events of the past months had left very little time for doing things like this.

Phil wanted to be there as well but his grandmother had been rushed to the hospital after slipping in the bathtub and he and his father went to the city to be with her.

The boys all agreed that it was nice to see Joe genuinely excited about something again.

"You'd think it was his birthday or something", Chet had quipped to Biff after Joe had told them his plans. He wanted a huge party with everyone they knew invited, cake, lots of food, a live band and fireworks – and Biff had just grinned back, "I'm just happy to see him excited about anything! And this is pretty special…you only turn 19 once!"

"Dad! We're gone. If Joe calls…tell him I'll meet him at Chet's!" Biff yelled out to his parents who knew that the boys were supposed to be going out and would not be back until after supper. They had already asked Tony to bring over a few leftovers pizza with him for them to eat. It was going to be great.

As Biff's car was backing out of the driveway the phone started to ring and Mrs. Hooper answered it absently waving to her son as he left.

"Hello" she said.

Hi Mrs. Hooper is Biff there

"No Frank – he just left to go to Chet's house. Is everything all right?" Mrs. Hooper asked recognizing Frank Hardy's voice immediately and wondering why he would call looking for Biff while he was still out of town.

No I was just wondering if he had talked to Joe today. No one's answering at my house and I thought he might know where Joe was

"I know he was talking to Joe about an hour ago because they're meeting at Mr. Morton's farm to do some more field work with Sherlock", she told him and heard him let out a small sigh of relief. She knew what the brothers had been through recently and realized that Frank must have gotten worried about Joe when he couldn't get hold of him at home – especially in light of what had happened in January…she shuddered thinking about it.

Thanks – I'll let you go then. Bye and Frank hung up feeling relieved. Joe was out with Biff and that made Frank feel better as he knew that both Chet and Biff would keep on eye on his kid brother for him.

Turning around, he saw his father coming into the kitchen with his cousin, Dr. Mercedes Yellow Hawk, and they told him they were going into the back room to review the medical records that Mercedes had just received. Frank didn't want anything to do with Tim so he hurriedly left looking for Mark who had offered to show him some of the computer software that they used on the ranch.

Except for Tim, Frank was enjoying getting to know his extended family and he had discovered that he and Mark actually had a lot in common as Mark liked computers as well, although he wished his brother was here with him. But Frank wasn't worried about Joe anymore. Joe was fine…Joe was with Biff.

_**phx**_

"Fentie this doesn't make sense", Mercedes said sitting down and carefully looking at each of the reports in the manila file. She sighed deeply, tucking a loose strand of red hair behind her ear and looking into the deep brown eyes of her cousin, "Tim had some blood work done three months ago after he had pneumonia…but it came back fine."

Fenton narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "What are you saying?"

"I don't see anything here indicating that Tim has any kind of cancer, let alone brain cancer…– even his blood pressure is within normal. He isn't sick", she said as her eyes went wide to emphasize the point.

Then they both wondered the same thing – why would T.J lie?

"Is something missing from the file maybe?" Fenton wondered aloud grasping at straws and the red head shook her head.

"I don't think so…if he did have something like this wrong with him then his blood work wouldn't have been okay…. something would have been out of whack. A missing report I can understand… but there are too many tests involved for everything to be missing. No. Tim isn't sick".

They both just stared at each other questioningly.

"What are you thinking?" Mercedes asked after a few minutes when neither one said anything.

"I'm thinking we need to talk to T.J and find out what the hell is going on here!" Fenton said angrily. T.J _had_ lied. It wasn't because of any illness…_Tim wanted to kill Laura and Joe_!

Suddenly Fenton had a very strong desire to talk to his wife and youngest son and picked up the phone. Mercedes knew without asking whom he was calling and left to go and find T.J – they needed to talk.

_**phx**_

T.J saw Mercedes go into the house with a legal sized folder and knew it was his father's medical records. He figured it wouldn't take them very long to realize that his father wasn't ill and he went to find his father.

Tim was out by the corral overlooking the breaking in of one of the younger horses' and nodded to his son when he saw him come to stand beside him.

"T.J" he said still watching the horse.

"They're gonna figure it out pretty quick. Mercedes has your file", T.J said following his father's gaze to the activity in the corral. Tim thought about it for a few minutes before sighing.

"You lied to keep me out of jail…no big deal, " Tim finally decided but his oldest son turned to look at him.

"It is a big deal, Dad. Part of the deal with them not pressing charges was because they thought you weren't in your right mind…now they'll know!" He was starting to get worried. Tim squinted his eyes against the bright light as he took off his hat to wipe the sweat from his face.

"I don't care. Look Fenton is supposed to be leaving in the morning and he's not going to want to stick around any longer then he too…over this. I already called Gerry to let him know what's going on and he's gonna take care of things on his end. Now we just have to keep Fenton from leaving early" then as an ideal came to him, Tim turned and asked, "Where's Frank?"

"He's in the office with Mark. Why?" T.J demanded as he recalled seeing Frank and Mark only a few minutes earlier.

"Well I think it is time for the boy to become a cowboy", Tim grinned, "The 3 Musketeers left a little earlier to check on the Northwest fence. Get Mark and Frank and ask them to run some extra wire out to them. I'll get two horses, Mark's and one for Frank…now git!"

T.J was already yelling Frank's name as Tim called out to one of the ranch hands to get the horses.

_**phx**_

Mercedes was just coming out of the house when she saw T.J going into the office and followed him.

"Mark, can you and Frank take some extra wire up to the Northwest section. Dad had the Musketeers go up there earlier to fix a break but he is worried that they might not have enough wire with them".

Mark and Frank immediately agreed and left heading towards the corral where Tim was standing with two saddled horses.

"T.J – I need to see you for a moment?" Mercedes called to him as she watched the other boys leaving and T.J nodded with a charming smile.

"Sure".

_**phx**_

"The Musketeers?" Frank asked quizzically and Mark laughed.

"Actually the 3 Musketeers – that's what Dad calls Jason, Gale and Joey, collectively. Kind of his pet name for them, I guess."

"Ah", Frank grinned – it made sense, but the grin faded as he saw Tim standing with the horses. Knowing he was ill, Frank might have been able to forgive him for the kidnapping but never for shooting his brother.

"'Lo Frank", Tim greeted handing him the reins to a horse, which Frank recognized as being the one his mother had ridden while Mark deftly mounted his own horse.

" Hello", Frank said and put his foot into the stirrup and mounted. Everything was all right until he gave Dumpling a gentle kick to go and the big animal suddenly began bucking like a wild bronco – with Frank Hardy hanging on for his life!

_**phx**_

Fenton Hardy started to get concerned as 4 rings went into the house and the answering machine picked it up. He looked at his watch and did the time difference frowning as remembered that when he spoke to his wife last night that she had said to him that she was staying home today and just taking a break.

"Honey, I am not going anywhere tomorrow", she said after he called to make sure everything was all right, "I just want to take a day for myself and just relax – I don't even think I am going to get dressed", she laughed, "so call me when you get the chance…I'll be home!"

_Where was she_? His thoughts were interrupted as Gertrude yelled out to him, "FENTON, GET OUT HERE NOW!"

Gertrude was getting a ride to the airport with Fenton and Frank in the morning, and she had been outside helping Marcia hang up some laundry when she saw the horse Frank was riding going ballistic!

_**phx**_

Frank tried to regain control of the horse as it wildly kicked, bucked and thrashed in an attempt to get him off.

_I'm going to have whiplash_, he thought as his head was whipped back and forth with the motion of the horse. He could hear people yelling and out of the corner of his eye he saw Mark had gotten off his horse and both he and his dad were trying to stop Dumpling.

But the mare continued to buck and just as T.J managed to get a rope around the horse's neck, she gave one more wild buck and Frank went flying off her back and with a sickening thud was thrown against the corral fence!

"FRANK!" Fenton Hardy yelled as he came out just in time to see his son get thrown. Kneeling beside the unconscious boy, he tried to access the damage as he prayed for him to open his eyes.

Seconds later, Mercedes was also kneeling beside Frank and quickly checked him over. Tim stood behind her, "T.J bring the truck around!" he yelled to the older boy who nodded and started running towards the back of the house.

"Fenton, I don't think anything is broken but he hit his head hard. I think we need to take him into town and get an x-ray", she said gently as she took the first aid kit that Marcia offered and bandaged the gash on the side of Frank's face.

"Of course", he said worried because Frank hadn't woken up yet. He could hear the truck being brought around by T.J.

"T.J can drive you into town…" Tim started to say but Fenton stopped him.

"If it's all the same, I would rather that Mark take us", Fenton didn't trust T.J, he had already lied to them once.

Tim paused for a moment and Mark spoke up, "That's ok, Dad – I'll take them".

Gertrude smiled, "Everything's taken care to then – Fenton do you want me to call and tell Laura?"

Fenton winced as he heard her offer as it reminded him that he was also worried about why nobody was answering in Bayport, "NO – Let's wait until we find something more out. I don't want to worry her when there is nothing they can do from there anyway".

And then he and Kyle, who had heard the commotion and been one of the men who Frank had heard yelling, helped Fenton and Mercedes gently lift Frank into the backseat of the truck.

"Here", smiled Melissa giving Fenton a blanket she had run into the house and grabbed, as both Amelia and Patrick were trying to see past her at Frank.

'Thanks", he smiled back. Although he hadn't spent much time with Kyle and his family, he liked them and knew he could trust them.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Kyle asked as Fenton walked around the back of the truck. It was a big crew cab and Mercedes was riding in the back with Frank while he was going to sit up front with Mark.

Fenton looked at him for a moment remembering the young man's reaction to Joe when he had been introduced to the blond headed team before he left.

Joe had just learned that Kyle was a police officer with the California Highway Patrol but before he could say anything, Kyle put his hand up and said very loudly, "No, nothing like Erik Estrada!" and everyone laughed with Joe laughing the hardest – because he had already started humming the "ChiPS" theme.

"Actually, yes. See if you can find out what happened, okay? And, Kyle…be careful, " he warned and saw his younger cousin tense for a moment before he nodded his head in acknowledgement – he understood completely.

Kyle stood beside Tim, T.J, Gertrude, Jesse and Marcia watching the truck pull away before he slipped away from them and went towards the corral. He could already see one of the ranch hands had secured Dumpling and was rubbing her neck reassuringly but just as the man was undoing the cinch on the saddle, Tim yelled at him.

"Get away from Dumpling – I'll take care of her myself", both the ranch hand and Kyle jumped and then he added, "I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of that horse. T.J get my gun".

Kyle stood in disbelief – was Tim actually going to shoot the horse?

"Melissa take the kids inside!" he yelled at his wife, just in case but not before he noticed the concerned look that passed between T.J and his mother – what was going on here?

But then Fenton's older sister, Gertrude came marching towards them and Kyle stepped back involuntarily as he saw the look on her face – Gertrude Hardy was a force to not be taken lightly!

"Timothy Oscar Hardy you are NOT going to shoot that horse!" She bellowed standing in front of Kyle and placing her hands squarely on her hips.

"Gertie, I understand you're into all this Green-Peace crap, but this horse just about killed Frank! I can't have her around – she's a liability", he tried to explain as calmly as he could but he quickly realized his choice of words had been a mistake as Gertrude Madeline Hardy's face turned from red to a scary shade of purple.

"_Green-Peace crap_? How dare you…you of all people, a rancher, should realize the importance of what we do…how dare you", she was so mad she was sputtering and Kyle now had to try and stifle the laugh that threatened to come out as he saw how white Tim's face was becoming. And then from behind them T.J came running with his 30-30 shotgun.

Kyle stopped him as he jogged up, "I don't think we are going to be needing that", he said as T.J looked from his father to Gertrude trying to figure out what was going on. While he had heard their raised voices he hadn't heard what they were saying.

"Fine. Ms. Environmental…what would you like me to do with this horse – offer you a ride?" Tim snapped back but Gertrude refused to back down.

"Call the vet and have her looked at – animals just don't "go crazy". And watch your tone mister…I laid you out flat when you were 10 and I can still take you. Now step away from the horse and let someone else…someone a little less shotgun happy…take care of her", and her eyes wandered over to the ranch hand who had been originally looking after Dumpling.

Tim actually growled in frustration as he tossed the reins to the man, "When did you say you were leaving?"

"Not soon enough", Gertrude hissed before she turned her head and walked back towards the house, stopping only long enough to grab the gun from T.J…just in case.

Kyle followed the horse into the barn and stroked her reassuringly as the ranch hand continued the task of taking the saddle off.

"What the…" he sputtered as he lifted the saddle off the horses back and saw a small bur stuck in her fur.

"What is that?" Kyle asked seeing the small prickly object. The ranch hand put on a glove and carefully picked up the bur and inspected it briefly before depositing it in the trashcan.

"A bur", he said shaking his head, "No wonder the poor nag went crazy. Those things are very sharp and dig right into the skin".

"How'd it get there?" Kyle then asked in awe that something so small could have caused such a big problem. Again the man shook his head.

'That's the weird part – I have no ideal. I saddled both those horses myself and trust me, there weren't any burs on her", he defended and Kyle believed him. So how did it get there? He continued to wonder but then decided he would leave that up to Fenton to figure out. _I'm no private investigator_, Kyle said to himself although deep down he had really enjoyed playing a dick.

Saying goodbye to them, Kyle left the barn and headed towards the house wondering where Tim and T.J had went just as Marcia poked her head out the door and yelled at them to come in for lunch.

_**phx**_

"How is he?" Asked an anxious Fenton Hardy, two hours later as he, Mercedes and Mark waited in the small hospital room for word on Frank. The doctor, a small wiry man, had just come out to give them an update.

"He has a mild concussion but should be okay. I did have to put a couple of stitches into the gash on the side of his face. You can see him now but he is still very groggy so take it easy on him," and then he turned to formidable red head next sitting next to Fenton, "Dr. Yellow Hawk…I'm a big fan of yours! I love the article that…"

Mercedes started to blush but Fenton had already left to go into the room he had seen the doctor come out of.

Frank was lying in bed with a bandage around his head. His face was very pale and his eyes were closed. Fenton wasn't used to seeing Frank look so frail and he paused for a moment before sitting down beside him and taking his hand.

"Frank?" he said softly and slowly Frank opened up his eyes. Seeing his father looking at him, Frank reached a hand to his own head touching the bandage and groaned.

"Did you get the number…of the truck that hit me?" he gasped and Fenton smiled.

"You sound like Joe", he said and this made Frank groan again.

"Oh no…I've…got…brain…damage". This time Fenton did laugh.

"Take it easy son or the doctor will kick me out for getting you too excited", Fenton cautioned and Frank closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again.

"What…happened?" He wanted to know. He remembered getting on the horse and not much more after that.

"Well…you got on the horse. It went nuts and you were thrown against the corral", Fenton explained before muttering, "And people wonder why I'm not crazy about horses". This time it was Frank's turn to smile.

"Sorry…"

"What for?" Fenton asked curious that Frank would be apologizing for getting hurt.

"Well…now…I've…substantiated…your argument", and this time Fenton playfully smacked Frank in the arm.

"Shut up…and get some sleep. I'll be right here until you wake up", Fenton promised and settled into the chair next to the bed. In the back of his mind he found it unsettling to be the one watching Frank sleep – it should be Joe. The brothers were always there for one another when they were hurt.

_**phx**_

A little while later Fenton heard a soft knock on the door before Mark poked his head in, "Can I come in?" he asked softly and Fenton nodded.

"How is he?" Mark asked as he looked at Frank. He was still in shock about what happened. Dumpling was a very nice horse and they had never had any problem with her before.

"Fine – he just needs some sleep. Mark…" the younger boy turned to Fenton and he indicated that he sit down in the other chair in the room. Mark did.

"Can I ask you something?" Fenton then asked and saw a worried look cross Mark's face but he nodded anyway.

"Ok".

"Why did T.J tell us that your Dad had brain cancer when he doesn't?" Fenton watched his young cousin very carefully for a moment, as Mark seemed not to know what to say. Finally Mark just shook his head.

"I don't know. I guess he was trying to keep Dad out of trouble", he offered and Fenton sighed. He had assumed that that was what they were going to say but wondered if there was something more to the story.

"Mark, by lying you put my wife and my son, " and then he looked at Frank who twitched a little in his sleep and corrected himself, " …sons in danger."

Mark looked a bit sheepish and then stood up, he didn't want to be in the room any more because he knew that Fenton was right, "All I can say is that I'm sorry. But, Laura and Joe went home so they're safe now – right?"

Before Fenton could say anything Frank opened up his eyes again and this time, Fenton was relieved to see, he looked much more coherent and smiled at them, "Hey Mark" he said hoarsely.

"Hey Frank – guess what?" Mark asked smiling back glad for the distraction from talking to Fenton.

"What?" Asked Frank after his father gave him a sip of water and his mouth felt better.

"You're officially a cowboy!"

"How's that?" he asked as he wished the pounding in his head would ease off even just a bit.

"Well all you have to do is be thrown off a bucking bronco and live to tell the tale. So congratulations!" Mark said proudly as Frank just shook his head and looked at his father.

"Won't Joe be jealous? Me…becoming a real live cowboy. One thing though…" he said trying to keep a straight face as both Mark and his father laughed at him, "Do I have to admit my bronco's name was _Dumpling_?"

Laughing Fenton Hardy excused himself while he went out to try and call Laura again. A few minutes later he was back in the room wondering if he should call Chief Ezra Collig and ask him to send someone over to the house. Frank saw the concerned look on his father's face.

"What's wrong Dad?" he asked instantly concerned that something had happened to Joe but Fenton just shook his head.

"Nothing I hope. It's just that I have tried calling your mother and no one is answering…" he trailed off as Frank held up his hand to stop him.

"I know the same thing happened…when I tried calling a couple of hours ago…" he stopped as the pounding in his head had suddenly gotten overwhelming and closed his eyes for a few minutes. Both Fenton and Mark were instantly concerned but then he opened them up again and finished, "Sorry I just have a horrible headache…But I called Biff…and his parents said Joe was meeting him at Chet's farm today to help him train Sherlock…Biff's bloodhound. Joe is helping him train the dog for search and rescue". He added for Mark's benefit.

Fenton breathed a sigh of relief, "Your mom probably decided to go with him", he said knowing that Laura was good friends with both of Chet's parents. And chances are she would have probably liked an excuse to go over and have some of Mrs. Morton's famous lemonade.

"Good – that solves one mystery…now there is just one more", Fenton said and Mark asked him, "Which one is that?"

"Why Dumpling went loco on Frank", Fenton said but Mark just shook his head.

"I don't know if you'll find anything on that, Fenton. Sometimes horses get a bit crazy and you never know why. They get spooked real easy. Who knows maybe Dumpling didn't like Frank's cologne or something", he added with a twinkle in his eye and Frank shot him a dirty look as he decided that Mark was just a little bit too much like Joe.

They talked for the next little while about other things until a nurse came in and checked on Frank. She then warned them that Fenton and Mark would have to go unless Frank promised to get more sleep. Mark used it as an excuse to go back to the ranch and check everything out telling Fenton he would pick him up first thing in the morning so Fenton could go back to the ranch and pick up his and Frank's stuff…including Gertrude, for the ride to the airport.

"Good night Mark", both Hardy's called out in unison before Frank closed his eyes and went back to sleep wishing his younger brother was there to keep him company. _I miss you Joe_, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

_**phx**_

Joe….Fenton thought about his youngest son for a few minutes and was saddened as one again he heard Joe's plea…_look I don't want to go – isn't that enough?_

Brushing away a tear, Fenton now regretted not listening to Joe. His son and his wife were always much more intuitive then he gave them credit for. They should have all stayed home.

Fenton promised himself that he would take Joe out for a big lobster dinner when they got home to apologize _for_ _it not being enough_ and then for the next couple of hours he just sat there and watched Frank sleep before exhaustion finally called his name and Fenton Hardy closed his eyes and answered the call.

_**phx**_

"Hey Chet how's it hanging?" Biff hollered to his friend as he got out of his car and Chet came down off the large front veranda of the old style farmhouse. Chet stretched and then reached to pat Sherlock as a black Labrador retriever raced out of the barn barking in excitement.

Happy was Chet's dog and Sherlock's best friend so Biff quickly unclipped him so the two dogs could have some play time.

"Only 'til Joe gets here and then we got some work to do", Biff warned Sherlock as Happy jumped on his back and the two large dogs began to wrestle.

"Speaking of Joe…have you heard from him?" Biff asked as they went into the kitchen and Chet took out a couple cans of soda and offered one to his friend.

"Not since this morning. He said he would be over around 3:00 so he should be here any time", Chet said looking at his watch, "I'll call his house to see if he's left". Chet put down his drink and called the Hardy house. After 4 rings the answering machine came on so he hung and tried Joe's cell. After the same thing happened he just shrugged, "He must be on his way and has forgotten his cell or something".

Dismissing it, the boys decided to throw a few hoops until their friend got there but they each kept a wary eye out for any sign of the Hardy's truck.

Finally after 45 minutes of waiting the boys began to get worried.

"I'll call Tony…you never know…" Chet trailed off thinking that Joe might have to go by the pizza joint on his way over.

_**phx**_

"Can I speak to Tony Prito?" Chet asked when a strange voice answered the phone and was told to wait a moment.

Tony here

"Hey Tony, it's Chet. Have you been talking to Joe?" Chet asked as his brow furrowed in concern when he heard a definite pause before Tony answered.

No, I was hoping that you'd be him…to be honest. Joe called me this morning to see what time I was coming out. I told him I could get off at 2:30 and if he wanted to swing by, we could come out together. But I've been waiting over an hour now and no one's answering at the house! I was just getting ready to call you to see if he had forgotten…but then I started to talking to a couple of regular customers and didn't notice the time

"Joe isn't here yet", Chet said as he was now very worried and saw the same concern mirrored in Biff's face as he was could hear Tony's voice through the receiver.

Why don't I take a run by the house and see what the problem is? I'm closer then you guys are

"That would be great. I'm sure he just forgot about the time or something", Chet said although neither boy believed it. Joe was too excited about this party to forget but Chet needed to say something. Tony then hung up promising to call as soon as he found anything out.

"What about Phil…oh yeah I almost forgot about his grandma. I hope she's going to be ok", Biff said forgetting for a moment that Phil was out of town and he would not have been talking to Joe since last night.

Grabbing two more sodas, the boys went outside to watch the dogs roughhousing while they waited for the phone to ring.

_**phx**_

Tony Prito quickly said goodbye to his dad and then went into the back alley where he had parked his Jeep, which now sported two new tires after Mr. Shaw had slashed them on New Year's Eve. Climbing in he really hoped that Joe had fallen asleep or something because although Frank was the punctual one, Joe was never this late.

His mind raced as he maneuvered out of the alley and onto to the street as he thought about everything that had happened in the last little while.

Like their other close friends, Tony was still shaken up about Joe's suicide attempt and partially blamed himself for not noticing how withdrawn and depressed the younger Hardy had become. Joe always bounced back from everything so he had assumed that he would be fine and get over this, like he always had. Neither him nor anyone else had realized just how tormented their friend was.

Pulling up in front of the Hardy's house, Tony immediately noticed Joe's SUV parked outside and this gave him a sense of relief – _he's just running behind_, he thought. He almost turned around and drove to the farm feeling sheepish because he didn't want Joe to think he was checking up on him. But then he decided, _what the heck, I'm here anyway_, and pulled over to stop in front of the house.

Walking up to the door, he knocked on it and waited although he didn't hear any sounds coming from the inside. Frowning slightly, he rang the doorbell and then knocked again. Still nobody answered and now Tony was starting to get very worried.

He walked around the house trying to see in any windows but it was no use – he didn't see anything. Then he knocked on the kitchen door but still nobody answered. Unconsciously his hand tried the doorknob and he was surprised to find it unlocked and the door swung open.

"Joe?" He said quietly poking his head into the kitchen before stepping into the house and closing the door behind him and locking it.

"JOE?"

_**phx**_

"Ok, I'm going to kill Prito!" Chet announced an hour later when Tony still had not called. He and Biff had gone past pacing and had spent the last 20 minutes sitting at the kitchen table starring at the phone on the wall, willing it to ring. Mrs. Hooper had offered to make them some sandwiches until Tony and the pizza got there but they declined. Even Chet, who normally never refused food, didn't feel like eating until he found out what was going on.

'Try his cell - again", Biff suggested and Chet actually wrung his hands in frustration.

"Whose – Tony's or Joe's?" But he had already picked up the phone and dialed Tony's cell phone number for the 10th time in the last 30 minutes. It rang, and rang, and rang before it finally went to his voice mail and Chet slammed down the receiver. They had not heard from Tony since he told them he would drive by the Hardy's and check everything out. And now the boys were beyond worry –something was wrong!

Chet looked at Biff. Biff looked at Chet. Nothing was said. Both boys raced from the farmhouse and jumped into Biff's car, stopping only long enough to grab Sherlock. Happy chased them, barking, to the end of the driveway before he turned and loped back towards the house to spend the evening lazing on the veranda.

"They probably think they're being funny", Chet said trying to think of a good reason why Joe and Tony seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth.

"Yeah well we'll see how funny it is when I finish pounding them to a pulp", growled Biff as he pounded the steering wheel for emphasis. Although deep down he hoped Chet was right and that the boys were just playing some kind of joke on them…

_**phx**_

25 minutes later, Biff pulled his car up into the driveway behind the Envoy and got out. They had stopped by his house long enough to drop Sherlock off and then quickly sped the last few blocks between his house and the Hardy's. They looked at each other when they saw Tony's Jeep parked on the street – so Tony and Joe were here.

"So they are here", Chet said breathing a sigh of relief, "Maybe something big came up", he said deciding that it must been really important to make both Joe and Tony forget to call them.

Biff knocked on the door and waited. When no one answered, he rang the buzzer.

"Let's try the kitchen door, "Chet said shrugging as they wondered why no one was answering.

Again no one answered and this door was also locked. The teens looked at each other wondering what to do.

"Ok", said Chet pulling out his phone, "we try this again. I'll call Joe's cell, Tony's cell, Joe's house and then Mr. Pizza – _someone has to have heard from someone_!"

"Damn!' he swore a few minutes later after the only call that was answered was the one to Mr. Pizza where Mr. Prito assured the boys he had not heard from Tony since he had left over two hours ago.

"Now what?" Demanded Biff.

"Do you think Mrs. Hardy got called in at work or something?" Chet asked as he knew that she volunteered with Red Cross. Biff shrugged and just said, "Call".

"No I'm sorry, Laura is still on vacation", a polite voice told him a few minutes later after he finally got the number.

"Ok", Biff said as Chet hung up, "Now I am really worried about them…" he paused before saying, "it's time to call Frank".

_**phx**_

In Frank's coat pocket in the guest bedroom he was using at Tim Hardy's ranch, Beethoven's 5th Symphony began playing. 6 year old Amelia Hardy heard the phone and ran into Frank's bedroom with her older brother, Patrick, hot on her heels.

"I'll get it!" Her voice rang out and plucked the phone out of the pocket and hit the button.

"Hello?" She asked sweetly but then Patrick tackled her.

"I want to answer it!" he yelled and they began wrestling it between them.

"Let go!" She shrieked.

"Amelia…" and with one last yank, Patrick got the phone away from his sister who ran from the room crying.

"Hello?" He said and then looked at the phone in his hand as no one was there.

"Hey bonehead!" He yelled tossing the phone on the bed and chasing after his sister, "You turned it off!"

"Patrick Kyle Hardy – we don't refer to anyone in this house or any other house as bonehead", Melissa chastised her son as he raced into the kitchen, "Now what is all this ruckus about?"

_**phx**_

Chet stared at the phone in disbelief before turning a shocked face towards Biff, "I don't believe this."

"What?"

"We can't get hold of Joe…we can't get hold of Tony… and now we can't get hold of Frank – is this a conspiracy? Some kids answered Frank's phone and then I don't know what the heck happened but they've turned the phone off!" He was still shaking his head – what was going?

"Mr. Hardy?" Biff suggested feeling desperate.

Chet took a deep breath and began searching for the number in his phone. He had never called Mr. Hardy's cell phone before but Frank had given the number to him a long time ago in case of an emergency – and now Chet was beginning to think this was close enough to one.

10 seconds later, he threw his cell phone at the house in frustration.

_**phx**_

The cell phone in Fenton Hardy's pocket never rang – he had turned it off before he went into the hospital.

_**phx**_

"Whoa Chet buddy – what's wrong?" Biff asked as he reached down, picked up the phone and made sure it still worked. He had never seen Chet so undone before.

"HIS PHONE IS OFF!" Chet roared feeling helpless. He knew something was terribly wrong but he couldn't get a hold of ANYONE!

_**phx**_

When Mark got back to the ranch it was late. After leaving the hospital he had went over to the garage to see if Gale's truck was fixed and ended out hanging out with one of the mechanics he knew until it was late. He had called his mother to let her know what was going on so she wouldn't be worried.

After parking the truck, Mark got out yawning loudly and turned as one of the ranch hands coming out of the barn. He waved Mark over and they spoke quietly for a few minutes before going their separate ways. Mark watched the other man walking away for a few minutes before he turned and, with a perplexed look on his face, went into the house.

"How's Frank?" Gertrude asked worried as she looked up from the book she was reading. Mark sighed and got a drink of water.

"He'll be fine. He's got a concussion and a nasty cut…" Mark's voice trailed off as he heard his father and brother come into the house. They didn't say anything as they walked past and went to their rooms.

"Where is everyone?" he then asked Gertrude.

"Gone to bed", said Gertrude yawning, "Your mom just went a little while ago but I couldn't sleep – I wanted to find out about Frank, first hand. So I promised I'd stay up until you got back".

Mark sat down glumly in the chair, "Sorry if I knew you were going to wait up, I would have come right home."

Gertrude immediately sensed there was something amiss with the boy as she saw the perplexed look on his face.

"What's wrong, Mark?" She asked gently and he sighed heavily.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated?"

"What do you mean?" she pushed confused.

"Dad and mom plan this big family reunion and everyone is excited about it. Only it turns out that Dad was going to use it as a chance to get rid of Joe and Laura…" he paused and when he looked at her Gertrude's breath caught in her throat as she saw brown eyes filled with torment, "I like Joe. I never got much of chance to talk to him but he seemed funny – and his mom, she was nice".

Gertrude thought about her younger nephew and smiled, "Oh yeah that's our Joe – a real comedian." Mark smiled briefly before becoming serious again.

"And Dad is wrong – Joe is as much a Hardy as I am. He looks like granddad – even T.J said that – but Dad is so obsessed…and then…" Mark's voice trailed off again.

"And then what?" Gertrude pressed and became aware of someone else standing just outside the kitchen listening. At first she was startled but relaxed when she realized it was Kyle. He put his fingers to his lips so she wouldn't tell Mark he was there and make the boy clam up.

"And then there's that thing with the horse…I saw Jake, the ranch hand", he clarified as Gertrude raised her eyebrow at the name," and he told me there was a bur under Dumpling's saddle – that's why she went nuts."

"How would that get there?" asked the older woman immediately alarmed as Mark shook his head sadly.

"Only one way I can think of it – it was put there".

Kyle held his breath waiting to see if Gertrude would ask the right question and she did.

"But who would do that, Mark – Jake?"

Mark shook his head adamantly as he had known Jake for a long time and knew he was a good man, "No – Jake wouldn't have any reason to do that…"

'Then who?" she persisted and then was floored as Mark admitted what she already suspected.

"Dad", he said sadly, "it wouldn't have been T.J because he was with me and Frank and didn't have a chance…but Dad was the one with the horses when we came out."

"But why Mark – your father had no reason to try and hurt Frank…it was Joe he was after", this time it was Kyle who asked afraid that Gertrude wouldn't and not wanting to miss this opportunity now that Mark had actually confirmed his suspicions. If Mark was surprised that Kyle was there he didn't show it but only looked down at his hands folded at the table.

"You know why don't you Mark?" he pressed gently but Mark didn't say anything for a few minutes so he asked again, "Please Mark – why would your father have done something like this?"

"To keep Fenton from going home early", Marcia Hardy's voice came from the doorway. Dressed in her housecoat, her face was sad and weary and it was obvious that she had been crying. Kyle and Gertrude had hardly seen her since Laura and Joe left and they all knew she felt a lot of guilt about what had happened…but now she was determined to try and help.

She had overheard her husband calling someone and now realized what was going on. Marcia had come out of her bedroom and was standing unseen behind Kyle and was shocked to learn that the horse had been "rigged".

"What?" asked both Kyle and Gertrude at the same time as they turned to look at her. Marcia wrung her hands and poured herself a glass of water before saying anything else.

"I heard Tim and T.J talking a little earlier…I'm sorry I didn't say anything until now but I only just overheard you say that someone put a bur under the horse's saddle…and put everything together", she paused before continuing, "I heard Tim saying that everything would work out fine, now. Fenton couldn't very well go and leave Frank in the hospital - even if he was worried. And then T.J laughed and said something like 'yeah wouldn't want the old boy going home early and ruining his surprise".

She hardly finished the sentence when both Kyle and Gertrude were on the move.

"Gertrude, try calling Laura…I got some family business to take care of", Kyle called to the woman as he didn't even knock on Tim's door but burst in and grabbed the shocked man out of his bed and threw him against the wall.

"What the hell…" Tim broke off as he hit the wall, hard. Kyle knew something bad was going to happen and Tim was going to tell him what it was.

"What's Fenton's surprise?" he demanded but Tim just shook his head.

"I don't know what you are talking about…let me go", he whined but Kyle put a hand around his throat pinning him to the wall.

"Bullshit…why didn't you want Fenton going home early?"

Tim didn't say anything and Kyle applied pressure making him gasp, 'Tim I'm not screwing with you…so you had better be straight with me…what was so important that you risked Frank's life to keep them here?" he squeezed for emphasis and finally Tim indicated that he wanted to talk.

T.J burst in behind Kyle but Marcia and Gertrude, who had gotten no answer at the house, grabbed him to keep him from interfering.

"Fine…you want to know…" he coughed and then laughed as Kyle released him and he staggered to his knees, "I didn't want him going home early and ruining the little family reunion going on as we speak".

"Timothy Oscar Hardy – stop talking in riddles…what family reunion?" Gertrude said getting frustrated.

Kyle went to grab him again but Tim put up his hands in surrender, "Gerald Moore…ok…I called Gerry Moore and told him about Joe."

And then his next words sent shivers down everyone's spine, "He asked me to keep Fenton from coming back early so he could get to Laura and Joe."

Minutes later, Kyle Hardy had grabbed the truck keys from Mark and was on his way to town. He didn't need the boy to show him where the hospital was because he remembered seeing the signs for it on his way down only a few days earlier and was sure he would have no trouble finding. And Mark had given him some pretty good directions…

_**phx**_

"Duh…I know what we can do!" Biff said slapping his forehead in excitement.

"What?" asked Chet who was getting ready to call the police.

"My mom has a key to the house. Mrs. Hardy asked her to water the plants while she was away and I am pretty sure she hasn't been by to get the key yet", he started calling his own house on Chet's phone which was still in his hands.

20 minutes later Mrs. Hooper pulled up and jumped out. Biff had told her what was going on and she was immediately alarmed especially since she knew that Frank had called her earlier looking for Joe.

They knocked on the door one more time and then with one final look around, Mrs. Hooper put the key in the lock and unlocked the door.

"Laura? Joe?", Mrs. Hooper called out as she opened the door and stepped in. The living room was empty but they were immediately alarmed when they saw over turned chairs and it was apparent that there had been some kind of struggle in this room.

"Mom, call the police", Biff said ushering his mother back out the door – he didn't want to have to worry about his mother too.

Chet grabbed the lamp off the table and just shrugged his shoulders when he saw Biff give him a strange look, "Hey it works in the movies!" and they checked out the kitchen but it was empty as well.

"Allen! Chet!" Biff groaned inwardly when he heard his mom use his real name. She usually called him Biff, as well, and saved 'Allen' for when it was really important or she was mad. He and Chet quickly darted back to the front door where Mrs. Hooper was waiting.

"The police said to wait outside," and she also gave Chet a strange look when she saw him holding the lamp. Sheepish, he put it down and went outside with her and Biff to wait although he really just wanted to search the whole house, terrified that precious moments were being lost.

A few minutes later a blue and white police car pulled up front, quickly followed by another car. The first officer was a woman and introduced herself as Officer Barrett while Officer Con Riley needed no introduction. He had been off duty when he heard the call come in and asked to be the backup as he was a good friend to the Hardy's.

"Stay outside", Officer Barrett told the boys and the woman as she pulled her revolver and signaled to Con that she was going in. She knew Fenton Hardy as he was a frequent visitor in the department and had even on one occasion met his younger son when he came into the precincts to report his van stolen a couple of months earlier. And she was familiar with the layout of the house as she had been in it just before Christmas helping collect evidence after the suspected attack on Joe. So she was surprised when she came into the room and saw everything so out of place.

"Mrs. Hardy? Joe? This is Officer Barrett of the Bayport Police, please show yourself" she called out as Con fanned out towards the kitchen and she went upstairs.

Con was worried. He knew that something had happened and he just hoped that both Joe and Laura were all right. The family had been through so much in the past year, he really hoped that they weren't home when whatever happened…happened.

He was just getting ready to leave the kitchen when he decided to check out the basement. He saw the door was latched so he knew that unless the intruder had an accomplice who locked him down there, it should be empty…but he would check just in case. After all it was a perfect place to put someone.

"Police – is anyone down there?' he called out before turning on the light and then he gasped and yelled out, "SELINA – CALL THE PARAMDICS!' as he raced down the stairs.

Laura Hardy lay unconscious on the dark basement floor!

Con Riley knelt down beside her and gently checked for a pulse sighing in relief when he found one beating steady and strong.

"Laura…Laura", he said gently as he heard Selina coming down behind him with Biff, Chet and Mrs. Hooper close behind. They had heard him yell for an ambulance and rushed in to find out what was going on.

"Oh my god", Mrs. Hooper whispered covering her mouth as she thought her long time friend was dead but Con looked up at her.

"It's okay – she's alive, just unconscious". Everyone breathed a sigh of relief although an unanswered question hung in the air – where was Joe and Tony?

_**phx**_

Biff drove his mother and Chet to the hospital and sat in the waiting room to hear news on Laura. Chet excused himself and went to call Mr. Prito to tell him that Tony was missing. Tony's father was distraught and hung up saying he was coming to the hospital right away – he was praying that Laura would be able to tell him where his son was as soon as she regained consciousness. And for the first time since the day it had opened, Mr. Pizza closed early.

_**phx**_

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor came into the waiting room and looked around. She didn't have to ask who was here for Laura Hardy as she recognized the two teens that sat sullen faced in the waiting room as friends of Joe Hardy.

"Biff Hooper…Chet Morton?" she called them by name and they looked up surprised. Normally she wouldn't have been able to release patient information to non-family members but she knew who they were. She _was_ surprised the neither of the Hardy's was there as they were a very close family.

"Dr. Cain?" they asked remembering her from a couple of times she had treated Joe in the ER, the last time being when he was almost killed by Paul Mitchell.

"How is Mrs. Hardy?" Chet asked almost afraid to find out.

"She is still unconscious but that is due to the large amount of a drug that was found in her system. Other then that, she has a couple of bruised ribs and some minor cuts and bruises.

Provided that she suffers no ill effects from the drugs, she should make a full recovery and can go home in a day or two, " she looked at the woman who she assumed was Biff's mother as he looked like her, "Where are her family?"

She saw their faces pale and Chet responded sadly, "We haven't been able to reach Mr. Hardy or Frank yet and Joe…" his voice dropped off as he now realized that their worst suspicions were true, " Joe is missing".

"Yes", picked up Officer Con Riley who came back into the waiting room with Officer Barrett after talking to Chief Collig. They had called Ezra Collig, at home, realizing that he would want to know what was going on as he was a good friend to both Fenton and Laura, "we are hoping Laura might be able to give us a clue about where her son and another boy – Tony Prito – might be. They are both missing".

"Oh", said Dr. Cain startled a bit – Joe seemed to have a perchance for finding trouble, "I'm sorry to hear that...Joe seems like such a nice kid…and Tony Prito – isn't he the Italian boy who tried to smuggle Joe in some pizza?"

Biff laughed as Chet groaned remembering that incident very well…_Joe wasn't eating much but Tony thought a slice of pizza might inspire him. But rather then just asking the doctor if it were okay to bring in a slice to Joe, he put a piece in his pocket and then forgot about it. And then when he was visiting Joe, he laid his jacket on the chair and Chet had sat on it and gotten pizza sauce everywhere! A poor nurse walked in a few seconds later and mistook the pizza sauce for blood and for a few minutes all hell had broken loose…_Yes, Dr. Cain knew whom Tony was.

"That's him", Biff confirmed and Dr. Cain shook her head sadly.

"That's too bad – I hope you find them…soon. I will let you know as soon as Laura wakes up. Unfortunately as you are not family, I can't let you into her room until she can okay your visit", she apologized and they understood but then she turned to Con Riley who she also remembered thanks to Joe Hardy and smiled sweetly, "but I can let you in".

"Thanks" he said smiling back, somewhat uncomfortably, and followed her down the hall towards Laura's room. Selina Barrett, knowing that Con was a close family friend, opted to stay in the waiting room with the teens and Mrs. Hooper and hoped they reached Fenton Hardy soon.

_**phx**_

Fenton Hardy was still asleep when Kyle knocked quietly on the door and then came in.

"Kyle is something wrong?" Fenton became instantly alarmed, as he knew it was too late for Kyle to be just 'dropping' in.

Frank opened his eyes when he heard his father's voice and sat up glad that the pounding in his head had subsided.

"Hey Frank, how ya feeling?" Kyle asked relieved to see Frank awake and coherent looking.

"Fine – all things considered – what's up?"

"Fenton – we have a problem", Kyle said deciding not to mince words. Fenton would want to get home as soon as possible once he heard the Moore was going to his house, 'Tim called Gerry Moore and told him that Laura and Joe were home…alone".

Fenton was stunned, "Moore?" He finally said as the colour drained from his face, hoping that he had misheard.

"Yeah. And he knows about Joe".

Fenton's horror filled eyes turned to Frank but the dark haired boy who looked so much like him was already throwing the covers off and climbing out of bed, "Let's go home, Dad".

"Frank…" he started to argue as he reached out to stop him from getting out of bed; but as if on cue, the doctor came in surprised to see his patient trying to get up and around.

Fenton immediately turned to him, "Is Frank all right to travel? We need to get home…now".

The doctor gave Frank another exam and then shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see why not as I was going to release him in the morning anyway. However", and he turned to Frank, "I want you to take it easy for a couple of days and go a clinic if you notice any of these symptoms". And he handed Frank a printout and then wished them a nice trip.

"What about Aunt Gertrude and all our stuff?" Frank called out from the bathroom as he was getting dressed. He stopped long enough to grimace at the bruise on his cheek and the cut on the side of his face as he hoped it would not scar. Gertrude was supposed to be leaving the next day with them while all their luggage was still at the ranch.

"Don't worry – I'll take care of her", Kyle promised, "And we'll put your stuff on a flight tomorrow".

"Thanks", Fenton said as he had not even thought about that, he was too worried about what Gerry might do to his family before they got back.

_**phx**_

"One more thing, Fenton", Kyle said as they were getting into the truck, "Tim put a bur under Dumpling's saddle and that is why the nag went crazy".

Frank felt a cold shiver go over him as he heard that. There seemed to be no ends to the lengths that Tim was willing to go to get his way.

"Dad", he said as he thought back to how he had not been able to get a hold of Joe earlier and wondered if his brother actually did met up with Biff and the gang, "Do you think we should call the Bayport Police and ask them to go by the house…just in case?"

Fenton looked at Frank in shock – in his concern about his family and making sure that Frank would be all right for the trip; he had not even thought to send someone local over to check everything out!

Without another word, Fenton pulled out his phone, turned it on and was thankful that it had reception, and then he dialed the number he knew too well – the Bayport Police Force and waited for someone to answer.

_**phx**_

Fenton Hardy listened, his face growing pale, to Chief Collig. When he had said who he was, he was transferred to Collig immediately before he even had a chance to tell them what he wanted. He was instantly worried as he knew that the Chief was not normally at work at this hour in the morning.

"Fenton", Collig started, "You need to come home".

"We are actually on our way to the airport right now – what's wrong?" Fenton asked as he saw Frank turn to him his face a mask of worry as he heard the Chief's voice boom from the phone.

"Laura is in the hospital", Collig continued, "She's unconscious but the doctor's say she should be ok".

"What happened?" he asked hoarsely but the Chief ignored him and continued.

"Fenton…there's more" and he paused briefly before continuing as Frank pressed his ear to the phone to hear as well, "Joe and Tony Prito are missing".

Frank felt like someone had stabbed him in the stomach – Joe was missing…and then he remembered what else the Chief had said – Tony was missing too?

Frank gulped as he remembered the thought that screamed at him as he watched the black Envoy pull away from the ranch taking his mother and brother home…_that was the last time you'll see your brother alive… _and he fought the wave of panic that threatened to consume him as he knew he needed to try and stay calm…for now.

"What?" Fenton was saying in disbelief – his wife was in the hospital, Joe and his friend were missing…and then he realized he was too late…Gerry Moore had been to his house.

_**phx**_

It was an agonizing flight for Frank and his father. Frank's mind kept reeling as he heard Chief Collig's voice over and over again saying that both Joe and Tony were missing and then his own inner voice screaming at him… The Chief had not given Fenton many details and Frank was left wondering how Tony managed to get into this with Joe.

While his younger brother seemed to have a knack for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, it seemed strange to him to think that this might have carried over to Tony.

Finally the only thing he could think of was that Tony must have been in the house when Gerry Moore arrived, if indeed Mr. Moore was the problem. Frank swallowed horrified as his mind kept going over and over different scenarios that might have happened – none of them ending very well.

Frank just hoped that wherever they were, they were together. No matter what the consequences would be for themselves, Joe would protect Tony and Tony would do the same for Joe. It could be the strength they needed to survive whatever they might be going through – or at least, that is what Frank was hoping…

They had no proof that Gerry had even went to house, but both Frank and his father were sure that he was behind whatever had happened – it was just too coincidental!

"Frank – are you okay?" his father asked after they had flown for a while in silence. Frank nodded as he lay back and closed his eyes trying to get the horrible images out of his head. But he needed to know what his parents had been hiding. If there was any hope of a rescue, he needed to know what Gerry Moore was capable of.

"Dad…are you going to tell me what's going on now?" he asked quietly, "I think I need to know…now."

Fenton knew Frank was right but he wasn't sure how to even tell him.

"Dad?" Frank pressed when his father didn't answer and finally Fenton just sighed and closed his eyes as well.

"Frank…", he sighed again and then started the story he had hoped to never tell his children", I met Gerald Moore at the academy and we became good friends – best friends actually. We did everything together…and sometimes we were partners together.

One day we got jumped while we were walking our beat and Gerry bust open his knuckles on one of the guys faces…so I had to take him to the hospital to get stitches. While there, we saw the most beautiful girl in the world and before Gerry could say anything I went over and introduced myself. I couldn't resist…I knew I had seen the woman I was going to marry….

What I didn't know at the time was Gerry was thinking the same thing…but he never got a chance to talk to her because he was getting stitched up. I only found out after I married Laura and you were born, how much he held it against me that I asked your mom out first." Fenton stopped for a moment as he could still hear Gerry's drunken voice screaming at him from so long ago…_I saw her first Fenton! She was mine…you stole her from me! I SAW HER FIRST!_

Shaking the voices away, he continued, "Tim was too afraid to fly to the wedding so Gerry was even my best man…anyway a few months after you were born, Gerry was at our apartment for a party. You were away on your first sleep over at your grandmother's house and another buddy of mine had got a promotion…so we had a party.

Frank…you asked me once when you were small why me and your mother never drank anything more then an occasional glass of wine…and this party is what started that all."

He stirred his cold coffee for a few minutes as if waiting for his strength to build up before making the difficult journey into the past, "I am ashamed to admit it but I had never gotten so drunk as I did that night. In fact, I passed out just after most of the guests left and your mom and Gerry had to put me in bed."

Frank noticed his father's hands had started to shake. He had wondered why his parents didn't keep any alcohol in the house and like his father said, drank wine only on occasion and never in their house.

Fenton, taking a large gulp of coffee, continued, "Well after the last of the guests had left, your mom and Gerry started to clean up and had a few more drinks. Your mother, while not as drunk as me, had consumed her fair share of alcohol – Gerry was pretty drunk."

He paused again – this was harder then he thought it would be. But steeling himself because he knew that Frank needed to know the truth to understand what was going on now, Fenton continued, "Frank…Gerry took advantage of your mother…".

Frank froze as his eyes widened in disbelief and then horror and his father continued, "He forced himself on her while I was passed out in the next room". Guilt consumed Fenton and he didn't even bother to brush the tears off his face as Frank just continued to stare straight ahead, not able to fully process what his father was saying.

After what seemed like an eternity, Frank asked hoarsely, "What happened after…after that?"

"I was hung over when I woke up but I knew something was wrong immediately as I could hear your mother crying. When she finally told me what had happened I lost it…I went ballistic.

Gerry had passed out afterwards and I jumped on his and beat the living crap out of him. I probably would have killed him on the spot if your mom hadn't been there – but she stopped me".

"Did you call the police?" Frank then asked horrified that this creep had hurt his mother again…and did lord only knew what to Joe and Tony.

"No", Fenton shook his head sheepishly, "I wanted too but your mom didn't. She said she was ashamed. I tried to tell her that she had nothing to be ashamed about…but then she started to say she partially to blame because she was also drunk and maybe she had lead him on or hadn't done enough to stop him…"

"You didn't buy that!" Frank burst out wondering if his father could have been so stupid but Fenton shook his head.

"Of course not! But Frank you have to remember things were different then…a woman who was attacked was treated worse then her assailant…it was pretty brutal and I knew it was because I had seen what happened when a woman reported a rape.

So, no I didn't believe she was responsible for the attack in any way, shape or form, but I respected your mother's desire not to prosecute Gerry. And he was drunk…"

Frank knew that was bull but his parents hadn't been much older then himself when it happened so he kind of understood why they covered it up, "So Gerry got off scott free", he said angrily but at this his father smiled.

"Well no…not exactly".

"What do you mean?" Frank demanded.

"Well after I beat the living crap out of him I called my superior officer and told him what happened – I wanted to take a few extra days off to take care of your mom…and let's just say, the last time I heard anything about Gerry, he was still walking a beat".

Frank sighed heavily as he tried to deal with everything – his mother had been assaulted…his brother was missing…one of his best friends was missing…and then he opened up his eyes and looked at his father.

"Is he Joe's father?" Frank had to know.

Fenton Hardy didn't say anything for a long time and Frank thought he wasn't going to answer him but then he turned his tired eyes to his son and said grimly, "I don't know Frank…I just don't know".

_**phx**_

They rode in silence for the rest of the flight until Frank finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep. After what seemed like a second his father was rousing them to disembark, "Let's go and see your mom".

Frank nodded tiredly and followed his father out of the airport and towards the long-term parking lot they had left his car in.

An hour later, they were walking into the too familiar waiting room and told them they were here to see Laura Hardy. They saw Tony's father, Aldo Prito, who stood up when he saw the Hardy's. His face was pale and he looked like he was going to faint.

"Fenton", he said with a thick Italian accent.

"Aldo", Fenton gave the shorter man a hug.

"What happened – where is my Tony?" Aldo had been waiting for the past few hours for any word on where his son was and hoped that Fenton might now something. He had tremendous respect for the private investigator and was confident that he would find out where his son was and bring him home safely.

"I don't know…but we'll find him…I promise", he looked deeply into the other man's eyes to impress upon him this point while deep down he tried to make himself believe it as well.

"I know you will – it is your Joey that is missing too. Bring them home soon, eh?" he blinked away the tears trying to be strong and not show how worried he was. Fenton's youngest son Joe seemed to be charmed and he hoped this charm would extend to his own son, as he was sure that whatever trouble they were in, they were in together.

"We will Mr. Prito", Frank said to the man he had known since he was a boy. Aldo turned to Frank and gave him a big hug.

"I know Frankie..be careful though…whatever this is…it can't be good!" he said releasing the boy.

"Go home Aldo, Tony might call you. I will let you know as soon as Laura wakes up. Hopefully she will know where the boys are", Fenton said reassuringly to the man with whom he now shared an unfortunate bond.

"Thank you – and please let me know what is happening!" With that he left to go home to try and comfort his distraught wife, America, who was being looked after by her sisters. He had needed to see Fenton Hardy personally to hear him say that he would bring Tony home. Having done that, he was comforted that they would have their boy back soon.

_**phx**_

"Fenton, Frank", a familiar voice called out and both Frank and his father turned to see Dr. Cain coming towards them. She smiled and shook both their hands glad to see that they had finally come frowning briefly as she saw Frank's face.

"I've put Laura in Joe's…I mean in a suite", they caught her slip of the tongue as she meant to say 'Joe's old room' but stopped herself just in time. But she was being honest; they had put Laura in the same suite that Joe had stayed in a couple times before in anticipation of the 'phone call'.

"How is she?" Fenton asked unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

"Well she is still unconscious. She was apparently drugged and thrown down the basement stairs and has a couple of bruised ribs and minor cuts and bruises. Once the drugs are out of her system and she has taken some time to rest…she should be all right", Dr. Cain said as she opened the door and Con Riley turned around and then stood up as he saw Fenton and Frank come in.

"Thank God", he said with heartfelt relief – maybe they might be able to shed some light on what was going on and then started out of the room to give the family some privacy.

"Are you okay?" Con asked Frank as he saw his face and the boy nodded.

"I'm a cowboy", was all he said and Con raised an eyebrow quizzically as he wondered if Frank had a concussion of something but then Frank added, "Let's just say I know have a story to tell my kids".

Con nodded – he'd get the scoop later.

Fenton nodded his thanks to Con as he left and moved to his wife's side. Frank hung back tentatively – while he had seen both his brother and his father looking beat up, he had never seen his mother look so sickly and it unsettled him. His mother was the kindest and gentlest person he knew, and he was appalled that anyone could do something like this her…

_Again_, he thought bitterly as he remembered that this was not the first time Gerry had hurt his mother.

_Where's my brother_…he thought as he watched his father take his mother's hand and stroke it gently trying to get her to wake up…_where's my friend?_

Swallowing the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm he, Frank moved to the other side of the bed and gave her forehead a soft kiss before sitting down beside her.

"Hi Mommy", he said and heard his father choke back a cry as Frank used the name he hadn't called his mother since he was a little boy, "I love you".

He then took her other hand and tried to hold back the tears as he saw his father trying to do the same thing. After a few minutes, Frank looked at his father, "Dad".

"Yes son", his voice reflected a great weariness and Frank stood up. As much as he wanted to sit with his mother until she woke up, he needed to start looking for Joe and Tony. He knew that the longer he waited to start the search, the harder it would be to find them…alive.

"I'm going home". Frank expected an argument from his father but instead Fenton Hardy just reached into his pocket and plucked out his car keys and handed it to his son.

"Talk to Ezra and Con – find out what they know. But Frank…under no circumstances are you to pursue this alone. Do you hear me?" Fenton said sternly as he was torn between staying with his wife and going out to find Joe and Tony.

But he couldn't let Laura wake up and him not be there…especially if it was Moore who did this to her. And Fenton knew that Frank would move heaven and earth looking for his brother. And hopefully when they found Joe, they would find Tony.

"Gerry is a police officer which makes him a formidable threat _if_ he is the one who did this."

Frank noticed his father's choice of words and was surprised.

"You don't think he did this?" he asked in disbelief and his father clarified.

"I think Gerry _is the one. _ However, I do not want to take the chance of losing those boys by working on that one assumption – check it out with an open mind, that's all. We aren't going to get a second chance on this.

And I mean it - call your friends; see if they can watch your back. Keep me updated, understand?"

Frank nodded and reached for the door and then his father said quietly, "Please…be careful, Frank. I can't lose another son to this bastard". Swallowing the lump that had grown in the back of his neck, Francis Fenton Hardy quickly left the room.

_**phx**_

Con Riley was waiting outside and came over to Frank as soon as he saw the boy leave the room. Officer Barrett had left to go back to the crime scene a couple of hours earlier to meet up with Chief Collig who was personally overseeing everything.

Laura had always been a good friend to him and his wife and had helped him take care of Rachel during her battle with breast cancer…and then she helped him come to terms with Rachel's death. He was angry that someone would have hurt her like this and was determined to do whatever it would take to find the missing boys.

"How's your mom?" Con asked quietly falling into step beside Frank.

"No change. Con…" he asked as they paused outside the hospital and breathed in the fresh morning air, noticing how overcast and gray the sky was, "What happened?"

Con sighed, "I heard the dispatch call for units to go to your house. Possible B and E, so I met up with Selina…Officer Barrett a few minutes later. Apparently Biff and Chet had become worried when Joe failed to show up at Chet's house and had sent Tony Prito over to check it out. Then when they couldn't get a hold of Tony, they came over and asked Biff's mom to use her key so they could check everything out."

"That's right – I almost forgot. Mom always gets Mrs. Hooper to water the plants when we are away", Frank said miserably and Con nodded and continued as they started towards the parkade where Fenton and Frank had parked. Con's own vehicle was still in POLICE ONLY PARKING.

"When we came in, we knew something had happened. Chairs were overturned in the living room and stuff was knocked over. It definitely looked like some sort of struggle took place so me and Selina split up and started looking around.

I decided to check out the basement although the latch in the kitchen was on so I knew that no one was hiding down there. I turned on the light and then I saw your mom lying at the bottom of the stairs".

Frank had been feeling nauseous listening to the account but tried to keep his feelings in check – he needed to keep his wits sharp. If he missed even one detail it could cost Joe and Tony their lives…

"What do you think?" Frank asked as they stopped by his father's car, "What's your feeling on this?" He knew that Con had seen the crime scene and he would have been talking to the Chief and he wanted a heads up on which direction the police were pursuing – was it a break and entry, was it an old enemy…was it spontaneous, was it planned? Were Joe and Tony dead?

Con Riley paused briefly – he had been talking to the Chief just moments before Frank came out of the room, "Frank – we don't know yet. If it was a BE, gone bad, then there should have been three victims in the house, not just one. However, maybe the boys were taken as hostages. It could be an old enemy – but why leave the wife and take the friend? Surely Laura would be a better chit then Tony. Bottom line, we don't know yet."

Frank suppressed a yawn and opened the door, "Thanks Con – I'm going to the house now."

"Are you sure you're okay…cowboy?" he added and Frank through him a look before remembering the remark in his mother's hospital room and he reached his hand up to touch the stitches on the gash.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a bit tired. This was my cousin's ideal of a delay tactic", he explained.

"Ouch", Con quipped, "Anyway…Chief asked me to stay at the hospital until your mom wakes up – so I'll keep any eye on them. Oh and Frank…he's at your house", Con warned with a smile on his face.

Although the Chief of Police was very fond of both Frank and Joe, he didn't like it when he thought they might interfere in one of his investigations, "So tread lightly…"

"I know…I know", Frank dismissed with his own grin as he got into the car and turned on the ignition, "…and carry a big stick".

The grin quickly left his face as he put the car in gear and backed out the space and headed for home.

_**phx**_

"Frank, what happened to you?" Chief Ezra Collig roared as he saw the boy get out his father's car and was immediately alarmed when he saw his face.

Frank sighed as he now realized how his brother must feel with everyone constantly asking him if he was okay, "I'm okay – I just met the business end of a bronco".

Collig gave him a strange look before asking, "Where's your Dad?" he was sure when he saw Fenton Hardy's car that the PI would be in it.

"With my mom", Frank answered wanting to go in the house but Ezra put out his hand.

"Frank…" he started but the young man cut him off.

"Chief…I don't want to hear it. Right now my mother is still unconscious in the hospital after being attacked…my younger brother is missing….one of my best friends is missing…I want in and I want in now!"

Chief Ezra Collig stared at Frank appraisingly. He had known Frank since he was a toddler and he couldn't believe that he would be 19 in only a few days…and then he shook his head resignedly knowing it would be useless to try and keep Frank away.

"Fine", was all he said as he turned from Frank and walked back towards the house leaving Frank standing there open mouthed for a few seconds before he ran to catch up. He had expected the older man to argue with him over this and had been momentarily stunned with how quickly the Chief gave in to him.

Chief Collig turned to him for a second before he opened the door, "I know I don't have to stress to you the importance of not touching _anything…"_

Frank nodded and then stepped into the living room.

_**phx**_

Laura Hardy moaned and tried to open her eyes but everything hurt.

"Laura…honey…please wake up", she heard someone say and fought the fog to wake up. _Hurry_…a voice was whispering…_hurry_…

"Fenton…" the name was no more then a mere whisper as her head pounded and she felt sick as she opened her blue eyes and saw the concerned dark brown ones of her husband's looking bad.

"Oh thank god", he said as relief overwhelmed him, "How are you feeling honey?"

Laura closed her eyes again trying to clear her mind but it was hard to do with her head pounding so much.

"What…happened?" she asked through a parched mouth and Fenton placed a few ice chips into her mouth as he rang the buzzer and asked told them she had woken up.

Dr. Cain came in before Fenton answered as she had been on her way to check on Laura when she heard the page at the nurse's station.

"Well hello there sleeping beauty", she said smiling at her patient, white faced and bruised stared back at her confused eyes.

"Why am I here?" Laura asked as the doctor checked her vitals. Fenton stood back to let her check his wife over. He was sure that she must be still feeling the aftereffects of the drugs and that was why she was confused and a few minutes later Dr. Cain confirmed his suspicion.

"She'll be fine", the doctor assured him as Laura tried to remember what happened. _Hurry…hurry_…the voice was screaming as it pounded on the inside of her head and she felt tears sting her cheek. She knew she needed to tell them something but she couldn't remember what it was.

"Laura", Fenton asked gently as he went back to his wife's side and took her hand. She was still sick and needed to rest but she was the key to getting Joe and Tony back soon so he had to try, "Honey do you remember what happened?"

Laura didn't answer him as she tried to fight the darkness that was calling to her – _she needed to remember_…that was all she knew.

"You and Joe came back from the family reunion. And then someone came to house today. Laura, you were found unconscious at the bottom of the basement stairs…what happened Laura…what happened?" he loved her so much that he hurt just watching her struggle to remember.

_Think Laura…think…hurry…hurry…_

_MOM!_

It was only one word but when he heard his voice echoing in her ears – everything came back to her and Laura Hardy bolted up in bed screaming, "NNOOOOOOO! NOT MY BABY!"

She kept screaming over and over again as Fenton grabbed her to try and calm her down but she was shaking so badly that it took all his strength just to hold her. Dr. Cain was yelling to the nurse to bring a sedative as she tried to help calm down the distraught woman.

But Laura was having nothing of it and just kept screaming…her words stabbing right into her husband's heart – NOOOOOOO! NOT MY BABY! NOOOOOOOO! NOT MY BABY!

_**phx**_

It was almost ten minutes before the sedative had calmed Laura down enough that she finally stopped screaming and then she sank back exhausted and stared up at her husband with glazed eyes. She was still trembling, as she couldn't get his image out of her head and the she turned to her husband and said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Gerry Moore came to our house…. he took my son…", and then the darkness overwhelmed her.

He took _my_ son…that single word tore Fenton's Hardy's heart out of his chest and he sank down heavily in the chair – it was true…Joe was Gerald Moore's son.

Fenton lowered his head down into his hands and began sobbing. Dr. Cain stood their not knowing what to say. She didn't know who Gerry Moore was or why that simple statement seemed to tear the man apart. But she knew one thing, she needed to tell Con Riley what Laura said as it was apparent that Fenton wasn't in any state to do so right now.

_**phx**_

Stepping out of the room, Evelyn Cain saw Con Riley talking on a payphone and walked over to him. _Why are all the cute ones taken_? She wondered to herself as she remembered seeing a wedding ring on his finger when they first met. And then she smiled as a nasty thought entered her head…_although I must say I wouldn't mind 'taking' him anywhere…_and then she shook her head disapprovingly – _be a good girl_, she admonished and then waited patiently for him to finish on the phone.

Con Riley was deep in conversation with his wife and didn't notice Dr. Cain standing behind him. 6"1, he was the same height and build as Frank but with black hair and hazel colored eyes, and would have blushed if he knew how Dr. Cain was looking at him right now.

"I know sweetie, but then I heard dispatch requesting units for Fenton's house and you know I had to go…", he listened to her for a few more minutes before smiling, "I love you too – I'll call you just as soon as I can". He hung up thinking to himself how lucky he was too be married to someone who understood that sometimes other things had to come first.

"Evelyn?"

Con Riley spun around as he heard Dr. Sidhu who had just come on duty and noticed her standing behind the young officer friend of the Hardy's, "is something the matter?"

Dr. Cain turned quickly and saw the older East Indian doctor coming up behind her. Dr. Sidhu had found out Joe's mother had been brought into the ER a few hours earlier and he wanted to stop by and see how she was doing.

"No", she said and then turned to Con who was now looking at her, "I was just waiting for Officer Riley – Laura Hardy was awake for a few minutes. I am surprised you didn't hear her screaming", she commented as she wondered where he was.

"I was down in the ER checking on an officer who was brought in a few minutes ago", he felt the need to explain feeling guilty that he had not been there, "Is she okay? What did she say?" he demanded, already on his way to the room right behind Dr. Sidhu.

She reached out and grabbed his arm noting how muscular it was, "Give them a few minutes. Laura was very confused at first but then she became hysterical and I had to give her a sedative…"

"Did she say anything?" he asked watching the older man go into the room.

"She just kept screaming No…not my baby…but then before she collapsed, she did say to Fenton that someone had come to their house…wait…no…she was more specific then that…– _Gerry Moore_ came to our house…he took my son…yes that's it!"

"Where's Fenton?" he asked, "Did he call the Chief?" Con didn't know who Gerry Moore was but at it gave them a place to start.

"No that's that strange thing", admitted the young woman, "your friend just broke down when she said that – I think he knows who this person is".

'Thanks Dr. Cain", Con started to say and she held up her hand to stop him.

"Evelyn…please, I see you here so much I'll be needing to put you on my Christmas card list!" she teased and Con just smiled faintly at her. Dr. Cain…Evelyn, made him feel uncomfortable. But it didn't make sense…she was just being friendly.

"Okay…Evelyn. Thank-you. I really need to talk to Fenton right now", and he excused himself to go back into the room.

_**phx**_

Dr. Sidhu was surprised to see Mr. Hardy so upset when he came into the room. He tried to describe it to a colleague a little later but had difficulty finding the words to express it. The closest thing he could think of was a man who had lost everything.

"Mr. Hardy?" he spoke softly and Fenton turned to him startled as he had not heard him come into the door, "Are you ok?"

Fenton looked at him tiredly, "As okay as a man can be who had just found out he lost his son".

Dr. Sidhu was shocked – he had not heard this, "I'm so sorry…I didn't know. I thought young Joseph was only missing – I did not know his body had been found, " he placed a supportive hand on the man's shoulder and felt it tremble beneath him.

"It hasn't" he corrected sadly.

"But you said that you had lost your son", the doctor pressed knowing that whatever was going on Fenton needed to talk about it. The detective sighed heavily as he looked at his slumbering wife – even with her battered face; she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever met.

"Doctor, you seem like a wise man…how would you feel if you just found out the son you had raised was not your son".

Con Riley opened the door to come in but Dr. Sidhu shook his head and he backed out realizing that he wanted to be with Fenton alone.

The older man looked at Laura and then sat down in the chair next to Fenton and said nothing for a few minutes. He then let out a big sigh and turned to Fenton.

"Do you love her?"

"Yes", Fenton replied immediately.

"Do you love the boy?"

"Of course."

"Then what is the problem? Mr. Hardy…I have met both your sons. It has been under unfortunate circumstances, but I feel I have come to know a bit about them…and about you."

He paused as Laura moaned slightly and moved to check on her before coming back to finish his conversation with Fenton satisfied that she was still sleeping comfortably, "Why do you love this child?"

He didn't use Joe's name although he was sure it was Joe that Fenton was referring to as Frank was the spitting image of his father.

Fenton didn't hesitate, "He's a good kid with a heart of gold. He would give you the shirt of his back and is always putting himself in harm's way to help someone out. I love the way he can make everyone laugh; his spirit; his strength….and I love how much he loves his brother, his mother….and me". He said the last part very softly as he started t weep again, "And now I've lost him".

"Fenton", Dr. Sidhu never called him by his first name and he brushed away his tears and looked at him, "it is interesting to me that when you say why you love this child…not once did you say _because he is your son_. Blood doesn't make a family, my friend, love does."

Dr. Sidhu heard a page from Emergency and immediately stood up to go only stopping long enough to say, "You son is not lost Mr. Hardy…borrowed maybe but not lost". And then he hurried out of the room.

Fenton sat for another few minutes before getting up and going into the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and felt a new reserve taking hold of him as he thought about what the doctor had said.

T_his morning when I woke up I had two sons…I'll be damned if I let Gerry Moore steal one away from me_. Splashing cold water on his face, he went over and placed a kiss on Laura's forehead, "Honey I'll be right back…I have to go and make a phone call". It was a call he should have made earlier and now he was kicking himself for losing control and costing them precious time in finding the boys – he needed to tell Ezra.

_**phx**_

Con left the doorway and went outside to call Collig.

How's Laura ? Ezra demanded as soon as he heard Con's voice.

"Sedated. She became very agitated when she woke up but she did give a name".

Damn it Riley…spit it out already Collig barked.

"Gerry Moore" If Con had been standing next to the Chief of Police he would have been shocked to see the look that passed over his superior officer's face as he turned deathly white, too stunned to even speak for a few minutes.

"Chief? Chief?" Riley asked thinking they had been cut off.

Are you sure that was the name? Ezra Collig asked recovering.

"Yes"

Okay. Stay where you are. This guy is dangerous and I don't want him getting anywhere near Laura and then the Chief was gone leaving Con Riley with the impression that there was something else going on.

_**phx**_

Mrs. Hooper came rushing into the waiting room and saw Con Riley standing just a little down the hall.

"How's Laura?" she asked breathless. She had been home and changed and then hurried back to see if they would let her visit with her friend unaware that the Hardy's were back.

"She woke up for a few minutes but had to be sedated because she got pretty upset. Fenton is in with her right now", Con said honestly although he only had second hand information.

"Thank goodness Fenton and Frank are back – I've got to call Biff and let him know. He and Chet want to help Frank find those poor boys", she said already fishing a quarter out of her purse.

Con smiled as he could just imagine the look on Collig's face when he had three meddling teenagers at the crime scene.

_**phx**_

"Thanks Mom. We'll met Frank at his house", Biff said hanging up and looking at his friend. He and Chet had been hanging out at his house for the last couple of hours waiting to hear from the hospital or the Hardy's.

"That was Mom. Frank and his Dad are back."

Chet was already getting up from the couch he had been lazing on watching cartoons, "Let's go".

A few minutes later they were on their way to Frank's house and hopefully start making progress on finding their missing friends.

_**phx**_

"Oh Fenton – how's Laura?" Georgia Hooper asked as she hung up the phone and saw Fenton coming out a room.

"She's sleeping right now but Georgia can you do me a big favour?" he asked giving her a quick hug relieved to see her. Now Laura wouldn't be left alone even for a few minutes, "Can you sit with Laura for a little while? I need to use the phone"

"Of course, Fenton…you don't even have to ask. I'll stay with Laura while you go and find those boys!" Fenton gave her another quick hug – Georgia was sometimes a bit overbearing but she was always a good friend.

Mrs. Hooper hurried into the large suite while Fenton turned around and saw Con standing a little further down the hall.

"I called Chief and told him that Laura named a Gerry Moore as being in the house".

"Gerry Moore", Fenton said shaking his head, "I still can't believe it".

"You know him?" Con asked still in the dark about his connection to the family and Fenton just smiled grimly.

"You might say that. Where's Ezra?"

"At your house."

Fenton thought about it for a few minutes before turning back to the younger man, "Con, I need to go help find my son and his friend…"

Officer Riley interrupted, "I'm not going anywhere. Go".

"Thanks", he flashed his friend a smile, "I'm just going to let Georgia know and see if she can stay with Laura. I don't want her to be alone. I don't have time to explain it right now but he has hurt Laura in the past and I don't even want to think about what he might do to Joe".

Con nodded although he was shocked when he heard that Laura had been hurt by Gerry before and he quickly asked, "What about Tony Prito? Why do you think he took him?"

Fenton shrugged as that part did not make sense. Yes, he could understand why Gerry might have taken Joe…but Tony, 'The only thing I can think is that he must have been at the house when Gerry got there. Why he didn't leave him with Laura…I can't even imagine. My cell is on". And with that Fenton Hardy hurried out of the hospital.

_**phx**_

All the blood drained from his face when Frank Hardy stepped into his family's normally comfortable living room and saw the mess that was left behind. Furniture was knocked over, the closet door was off the hinges, pictures were broken and then he saw something that made him gasp sharply as he bent down.

Officer Barrett grabbed his arm to stop him from picking it up, as Frank knelt down to get a closer look, "It's Joe's sling", he said choking back his emotions. Releasing his arm the officer picked it up with gloves on and showed it to the Chief.

"Why's it down here – I thought his arm was better months ago", Ezra asked grimly unaware that Joe had been shot and was using the sling to support the injury.

"Tim shot Joe in the shoulder and he was supposed to keep it in a sling for a week or so until it got better". Frank didn't notice the angry look that flashed across the Chief of Police's face – someone had shot a 17-year-old boy during a family reunion. He turned to Frank and placed his arms squarely across his chest.

"Ok Frank – I get the feeling that I don't know everything I should about all this – spit it out".

Frank sighed still looking at the sling – at least he didn't see any blood on it and started to tell Ezra Collig everything about what had happened at the ranch.

As they talked they continued looking around for any clues that might indicate what had happened to the boys. Finally as Frank was almost finished, Collig received a call from Con Riley and Frank watched his face pale as he listened to the other man.

…How's Laura ?….Damn it Riley…spit it out already…..Are you sure that was the name? Okay. Stay where you are. This guy is dangerous and I don't want him getting anywhere near Laura…

"How's my mom?" Frank demanded knowing that he had been talking to Con Riley. The Chief looked at him strangely for a moment before answering.

"She's fine." Frank felt there was something he wasn't being told and pressed.

"Did she wake up? Did she say what happened?"

Chief Collig stared at Frank without really seeing him, "She said Gerry Moore came to your house".

"So it was him", Frank muttered and the Chief catching what he said, said sharply, "What do you mean? Did you think he had something to do with this?"

"Yes…" Frank finished telling the older man what had happened to his family at the reunion and the Chief was immediately on the radio barking orders in an effort to find Gerry Moore.

"You know about him, don't you?" and the Chief just nodded his head.

"You know he attacked my mother", Frank continued, "Tell me!"

"Frank…" Ezra began as he wasn't sure it was his place to tell Frank but then decided that Fenton had already told him about the attack and he would find out everything anyway, "Yes I know who Moore is".

They went into Fenton's office so they could talk privately, "I had only just met your father that same day. Fenton Hardy had come into introduce himself to Chief Bragg and as I was in line for his job when he retired in a year, he introduced him to me as well.

You're a bit younger then your Dad was when I first met him, but other then that I see him when I look at you", Frank wasn't used to hearing the Chief talking so candidly and he was fascinated as he could almost see a much younger Ezra Collig being introduced to his father, "I would like to say that we hit it off right away but well, we didn't – I knew that he had just left the NYPD and I was afraid I would get stuck playing wet nurse to a fledging investigator. But I was wrong and we eventually came to an understanding that led to a friendship based on respect for each other's perspective.

Anyway like I said I had just met your father that day and although I had some doubts about him, Chief Bragg took to him right away and they hit it off like old friends. Fenton had mentioned to him that he was going into the city for the night because he was needed in court early the next morning. He was planning on staying with some friends there to save him the trip in the morning.

I worked late that night and it was 12 o'clock before I left the station. On my way home, I took a run by your house to make sure everything was all right. Bragg had asked to me to because he knew that your mom was there by herself with a toddler and a newborn and he thought it would be nice to do that for the man. So I took a swing down Elm Street.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting to see any lights on in your house. I didn't have kids so I never occurred to me that she might be up with one of you. So I was surprised when I turned the corner and saw the living room light on.

And then I saw the car pulling up in the driveway and slowed down enough to see a man getting out and knew he wasn't your father. Now, I had never met your mother before so it could have been her boyfriend or something, after all stranger things had happened, but something told me to check it out anyway.

I pulled over and watched the man knock on the door and then saw your mom open it up. I knew something was wrong immediately when she tried to close the door and he pushed it open and went in. So I got out of my car and walked up." Ezra paused for a moment as he thought about that night.

"What happened?" Frank pressed impatiently. As interesting as all this was, he really wanted to go out and find Joe and Tony.

"I knocked on the door and for a few minutes nothing happened. And then I called out I was the police and your mom opened the door. She was terrified so I told her that I was a friend of her husband's and he had asked me to stop in and make sure everything was all right. The man excused himself and left without even saying a word to me.

It was then that I heard a baby crying and your mom asked me to come in while she went upstairs to get him so I waited there to make sure she was going to be ok. When she came down, she was carrying a baby no more then a few weeks old and asked me if I could hold him while she got his bottle ready. I didn't know what to say…but I couldn't refuse.

Your mom looked like she was going to pass out and my heart went out to her. A young woman with two little kids in a strange city so I did the only thing I could think of – I called Rachel and told her what was going on while your mom feed the baby – Joe.

My wife insisted on coming right over to keep your mom company until your dad could get back and I was grateful as I could see that your mom didn't really feel comfortable talking to me. And I was right. Laura and Rachel hit if off right away and she finally confided in Rachel about what happened with Gerry Moore.

So yes I know him and I know what kind of scum he is." Ezra ended as Officer Barrett came into the office looking for them.

"Chief, we found an address for Gerry Moore and the NYPD have already sent officers to his house".

"Good – now maybe we will get somewhere", Ezra said standing up and patting Frank on the arm, "We'll find your brother Frank…people like this are too scummy not to leave some sort of slime trail".

_**phx**_

Biff and Chet pulled up in the front of the house and got out. When they saw the yellow police tape cording off the house, they shuddered.

Officer Barrett recognized the boys as they came up the walkway and waved them in. The forensics department were finishing up in the basement so it was ok way them to come in, "He's in the office", she directed them knowing who they would be looking for.

_**phx**_

Frank sat in his father's office staring at the computer screen in front of him without seeing it. He was thinking about everything his brother had gone through recently and he was terrified that Joe wouldn't be strong enough for this. And then he thought about Tony and how unfair it was that he had gotten pulled into this and hoped that he would be all right, as well.

Frank knew his brother well enough to know that if Joe did make it and Tony didn't…it would destroy Joe and all the angels in heaven would not be able to bring him back…and then Chet came in.

"Frank?" Chet said quietly as he poked his head in around the office door and saw his friend staring at the computer. Frank sat there like someone in a daze and they knew he wasn't really seeing the screen. He jumped, startled when Chet called his name relaxing as soon as he saw his friends.

"Hey", he said, "You don't happen to have a Joe or a Tony on you, do you?" he asked trying to make light of the situation. It was all he could do to try and keep his sanity, as he was growing more and more worried by the minute.

"I wish we did", Biff said solemnly and then he saw Frank's battered face and stopped dead in his tracks but not before bumping into Chet who had also stopped in surprise, "What happened to you?"

At first Frank didn't know what he was talking about but as Chet motioned towards his bruise and the gash on the side of his face, Frank smiled weakly, "It was one hell of a family reunion – can I tell you about it later?"

"Sure" Chet said wondering if it had anything to do with Joe's coming home early. When he had asked the younger Hardy about how the reunion went, he had told them it had been a 'wee bit eventful' and he would give them the details in person. And now Chet was wondering if Frank's face was part of the details.

"What are you doing?" he then asked changing the subject.

"I'm checking out my dad's FBI files to see what I can find out about Gerry Moore", he answered and refocused on the images in front of him.

"Gerry who?" asked Chet and Frank, sighed, as he realized that they didn't know anything but he decided to give them an abridged version.

"He's someone from Dad's past. Mom said he was here yesterday and he is our prime suspect right now".

"I take it he is someone who is not overly fond of your Dad?" Biff said carefully sensing that this might be a bit sensitive and Frank nodded.

"Guys, I can't really go into everything now…but let's just say he thinks Dad stole everything from him and probably took Joe to get back at Dad", he summed up and then thinking about Tony, added, "I think he took Tony because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time".

"But why not leave Tony with your mom…or for that matter, take your mom instead of Tony – she'd make a better revenge item, I'd think", Biff continued as he and Chet came to stand behind Frank to see what he was reading.

"That's the million dollar question, my friend", Frank said quietly as he had been wondering that ever since he found out Tony was missing but his mom had been left at home.

"What do we know so far?" Chet asked peering at the screen and seeing a small driver's license picture of a big blond haired man with intense blue eyes and he got the impression that he had seen him somewhere before.

"Well", said Frank sitting back and stretching his arms over his head as his stomach growled reminding him that he had missed breakfast at it was now lunchtime, "Gerry is a NYPD patrolman. He is married with no kids. Every other thing looks squeaky clean…too clean." Frank added wondering how someone who was capable of raping his mother would never have been in any other type of trouble since then.

"Squeaky clean, eh?" the sound of Fenton Hardy's voice from the doorway made all three teens jump as they had not heard him coming in, "I highly doubt that".

"Dad?" Frank queried wondering if his father already knew. He got up from his father's desk noticing how tired looking his father was.

"Hi Biff…Chet…I want to thank you both", Fenton said shaking their hands warmly.

"Thank us? For what?" Biff asked confused over this show of gratitude.

"Well if you hadn't been worried about my son, then we probably wouldn't even know that there was any type of problem, yet", he admitted knowing that his original flight home wasn't even due in for another three hours.

"Hey – Joe's our friend…we would do anything for him, " Chet said genuinely and then he looked at brown haired friend, "or Frank".

"Okay let's get down to business – I want Joe and Tony home and I want them home now", Fenton said taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves before he sat down at his desk and looked at what Frank had brought up on Gerry.

"Impressive, son", he said affectionately, "Now let's see what else I can find…. Good job on the front door…now let's see what happens when we go in the backdoor…" His fingers flew over the keyboard and the screen came to life impressing the boys – even Frank who had worked with his father on many cases but had never seen such fury in his activity.

"Wow", Chet muttered as he didn't know Fenton could type or click a mouse that fast.

"It's easier when you know who you are looking for", Fenton explained as Frank could see him fervently sending emails and jumping back and forth between the FBI files and the world wide web. And then Fenton stopped and sat back flexing his fingers, "Gerry Moore is an old friend of mine and he was a fellow officer at the NYPD. Now, while I haven't been keeping tabs on him over the past few years, I do know the people…who know the people…who would have been".

A few minutes later the computer dinged letting Fenton know he had an email. He quickly read it and smiled at the boys," You said that he looked too squeaky clean and you're right…What you have to remember is that the police department has ways of dealing with their own problems – and I am not talking about Internal Affairs, although they do investigate major incidents…reported incidents." And then he stopped and stared at his son, "Frank…is that your stomach growling?"

Frank turned red with embarrassment while Chet and Biff who had also heard it, laughed.

"Son, I have a couple of calls to make. Go in the kitchen and get something to eat – and if you could, I wouldn't mind a sandwich myself".

When Frank looked like he was going to argue, Fenton dismissed him, "You won't do anyone good passing out from hunger…now git!"

The three boys left and saw that the police officers were also gone. Chief Collig had returned to the office while the crime lab officers had left and were now busy trying to match fingers and delve through the evidence they had collected.

_**phx**_

Laura Hardy blinked her eyes as she slowly opened them. She was relieved that the pounding in her head had stopped but her whole body ached and she absently moved her hand to her face where her cheek still throbbed.

"Laura…" she heard Georgia's voice and turned her head to see her friend sitting on the chair next to her. Blond haired, blue eyed like her son, Georgia was a bit thicker around the waist then Laura and was always fussing over those few extra pounds, "How are you feeling dear?"

"Thirsty…" she said and Georgia immediately gave her a little sip of the melted ice chips as she pressed the call button and told them Laura was awake again.

Laura then lay back in the bed and smiled weakly at her friend as she wondered where Fenton was. As if reading her mind, Georgia said softly, "Fenton's gone home to help look for the boys".

_To help look for the boys…?_

Everything came back to Laura and she grabbed Mrs. Hooper's arm tightly her voice gripped in terror, "The boys? Is Frank missing as well?"

"No…No", she quickly reassured her friend as a doctor came in. It was Dr. Bates' the Hardy family physician!

"Hello Laura, " he said and started to check her vitals, "I must say I was a bit shocked when I saw your name on the roll call – I hadn't received any notification that you were here", he said still a bit surprised. Usually it was one of the Hardy men that he visited during his hospital shifts, and he was normally told quite quickly when one of them had been admitted.

"How's your head?"

"Much better"

"Do you have any blurred vision or dizziness?"

"No"

He went on asking her questions for a few more minutes before finishing, "Well Laura, I am pleased to say that you seem none the worst for wear, however I am going to keep you in overnight for observation. Provided nothing else comes up, Dr. Cain will probably release you in the morning. If you need anything, let the nurses know and I will be by in a little while to check on you again".

Then with a quick smile and a friendly wink he excused himself, sure that he would see the rest of her family during this shift.

"He took Joe", Laura said sadly as a tear traced its way down her cheek.

"Then you do remember what happened?" Georgia said excitedly – maybe she would be able to give some more information now and Laura nodded her head sadly.

"Y-es" her voice broke on the word.

"Do you want me to call Fenton and get him to come over? Officer Riley is in the hall and I am sure he could get Fenton here ASAP", she said already standing.

"Please…" Laura said closing her eyes. She remembered everything and right now she wanted her husband to be here so she could tell him.

Georgia was out of the room like a flash and a few minutes later Con Riley was on the phone with Fenton Hardy after quickly radioing the chief and letting him know that Laura wanted to talk.

_**phx**_

"Peanut butter and banana!" Chet whined when he saw Frank's sandwich choice. He and Biff had followed Frank into the kitchen and were watching him make up a huge plate of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Biff was busy pouring 4 glasses of milk as Frank had insisted they eat with him figuring they had not eaten much themselves.

The other boys had gratefully accepted the invitation…grateful that was until Chet saw the sandwich choice – he hated PB and Banana sandwiches.

"Don't eat them then", Frank said tossing the banana he was about to slice up at Chet who caught it and took a bite, "You can have this one – _sans banana_". Frank loved PB and B sandwiches as he affectionately called them. It had been a carryover from the preadolescent sandwich challenge that he and Joe had started when he was 8.

7-year-old Joe Hardy had stated that he could eat _any kind of sandwich in the world_, which of course was a statement that his 8-year-old brother couldn't let past.

"_I bet you can't!" Frankie challenged as they finished their peanut butter sandwiches. _

"_I bet I can!", Joey hollered back at him. _

"_Can't!"_

"_Can!"_

"_Can't!"_

"_Can!"_

"_Francis and Joseph Hardy, what in tar nation is all this hollering about/" Aunt Gertrude asked as she rushed into the kitchen afraid that all out war was about to ensue._

_Gertrude had picked the boys up at the airport the previous evening and had promised her brother and his wife she would stay at the house with them for the extra two days until their arrival home. The boys had spent the last few weeks on her cousin's ranch while their parents were on a second honeymoon of sorts. But as she heard their raised voices, she wondered if she should have accepted so quickly._

"_Nothing", Frankie said quietly and gave Joey a kick so he wouldn't say anything either. But his brother, being as difficult as ever piped up; "I was just telling HIM that I could eat any kind of sandwich in the world". _

_Gertrude raised her eyebrow questioningly – the things that kids would argue over…but then she sighed, "And?"_

"_And…" scoffed the 8-year-old boy, "I told him he couldn't!"_

"_Oh", remarked Gertrude wondering what the "Aunt's Hand guide to Playing Parent" would suggest. If one existed that was…and then decided to take the indignant route, "Now that's a ridiculous thing to be arguing about…so I don't want to hear anything else about it or YOU BOTH get grounded. Do I make myself clear?"_

"_Yes Auntie", two solemn voices chorused and satisfied that another crisis had been diverted, Gertrude left the room to finish putting away the laundry she had done._

_As soon as the door was closed, Frankie hissed, "Fine…then I'll make you a real bet that you couldn't eat every kind of sandwich that I make"._

"_You're on…", Joey said defiantly and then he sized up his older brother and realized that he might be in over his head unless he put some limits onto the kind of sandwiches he was allowed to make, "But…you have to try each one as well. I am not eating anything with worms…dirt…or other gross stuff in them, okay?"_

_Frankie shrugged and stuck out his hand, "Deal"._

"_Deal", said Joey shaking back and then he paused, "So what do I get if I win?"_

_Frankie thought about for a few minutes and then he said brilliantly, "My respect!"_

_And so the boys engaged in a contest that was still running…Frank made the sandwiches, Joe ate them and to his brother's credit, Joe did eat them all!_

_Ketchup sandwiches, Peanut Butter and Mayo sandwiches, Tuna and Jam…the list went on but to this day, Frank still loved PBB sandwiches especially when he was worried about Joe…_

Frank shivered slightly as he could still hear Joe's voice hollering at him and the thought filtered through his mind that he might never hear that voice again.

Biff took a sandwich and a glass of milk to Fenton who waved 'thank you' at him as he was deeply engaged in a phone conversation with a loud booming voice. Then he went back to the kitchen were they finished their sandwiches and milk in silence interrupted periodically by the muffled sound of Fenton's voice as he spoke on the phone.

"FRANK!" Fenton yelled and all three of the boys headed for his office but stopped dead in their tracks as they saw the older Hardy coming out of his office hastily shoving his coat back on, "Come on – your Mom is awake again and she's talking!"

Fenton looked at the other two boys, "Chet…Biff, I know you want to come but right now I would really appreciate it if you could stay here. I am expecting an important fax from the NYPD that might lead us to Gerry!"

"Sure, Mr. Hardy", they both chimed in and as he followed his son out of the house Fenton called over his shoulder, "When it comes, please bring it to the hospital – Joe's keys are on the key hook in the kitchen". He finished as he remembered seeing them there earlier and knew the boys would need a set to lock the house when they left.

"What do you want to do while we wait?" Biff asked after Fenton's car roared around the corner.

Chet shrugged, "What to play MINESWEEPER?" Biff groaned inwardly. While Chet was obsessed with the computer game, he couldn't even get past the first level without hitting a mine.

"I'll think I'll just go and grab one of Joe's comics to read", Biff then said and hurried upstairs as Chet headed towards the office hoping to do better then he had yesterday when he had played at home.

_**phx**_

Chief Ezra Collig met Fenton and Frank in the hospital lobby and followed them upstairs. Con Riley was still waiting in the hall and they nodded to him as they went in with him bringing up the rear.

Fenton was relived to see his wife looking better then she had been the last time and he quickly moved to her side and gave her a kiss and hug, "Hello honey – glad to see you up". She smiled up at him trying to keep on a brave face because she knew she had to get through this and quickly if they were going to find Joe.

Frank moved to his mother's other side and also gave her a big hug, "Hi ya Mom". Laura grabbed him and hugged him fiercely and for a second Frank was afraid that she would squeeze the life out of him. But then she relaxed and touched his face gently with hand.

"Oh Frankie, I am so glad that you're okay", she whispered fighting back tears as she saw his face. Con had already warned her that Frank looked a little misused.

"I'm okay Mom…or at least I will be once we get everyone back home", Frank was referring to both Joe and Tony but Laura, unaware that Tony was involved yet, thought he was referring to her and Joe.

"So will I honey…so will I", she murmured but continued to hold onto his hand as he sat down beside her. She felt Fenton's strong grip on her other hand and smiled slightly as she would need to draw from his strength to get through this. And then laying her head back down on the pillow and closing her eyes she started speaking. As she told them what had happened she started to cry and tremble but she was determined to get through this…once and for all.

_**phx**_

_The sound of the doorbell ringing startled Joe who had been lazing around on the couch all day. It was Saturday and his father and brother weren't due back until the afternoon flight on Sunday so Joe put down the magazine he was reading and got up to answer the door._

"_Hello" he said opening the door to reveal a large muscular 6"2 man with blond hair and blue eyes. The man smiled at Joe and held out his hand to shake as Laura Hardy walked out of the kitchen and dropped the cup of tea she had been holding._

"_Hello Joe…my name is Gerry Moore. Is your father home?"_

"_GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Laura screamed as she pushed past Joe and tried to close the door but Gerry was too fast and in one quick action he shoved her in and closed the door. _

_Laura fell against Joe who caught his mother and then quickly moved towards the man but Gerry pulled out a small revolver and shook his head, "Tsk Tsk…I don't think so son – backup nice and slow…" Joe reluctantly stepped back as he felt his mother's grip on his good arm._

"_Well now – he does look like me doesn't he?" Gerry said giving Joe an appraising look. _

"_I don't look anything like you!" Joe retorted but Gerry ignored him and continued talking to Laura._

"_Blond hair…blue eyes…it must burn ole' Fenton every time he looks at this boy – and to think…all these years I have been trying to think of a punishment that was befitting Fenton but you've beaten me to it! I can't even imagine how it must torment him every time he saw my son and put the clothes on his back!" Gerry laughed as Laura cringed._

"_He's not your son!" she rebutted._

_Joe was bidding his time…waiting for the perfect moment to disarm this madman. As Gerry continued to taunt Laura, he slowly eased his arm out of the sling – he would need both his hands if he had any chance of taking Gerry who was taller and had a few pounds on the younger boy._

_He got his chance a few minutes later when the sound of a car backfiring outside distracted Gerry, and Joe covered the distance between them in two steps and pounced on him trying to get the gun out of his hand._

_Joe managed to knock the gun out of Gerry's hand as his landed a solid fist into his stomach momentarily knocking the wind out of him. Then as he reached for the gun, Joe felt an arm snack around his waist as Gerry pummeling him in the back. Joe gasped as he felt two sharp blows to his kidneys – that's gonna leave a mark, he thought as he banged his head backwards into Gerry's face in an effort to make him let go. They were locked in a deadly struggle!_

_Gerry grunted in pain as he heard his nose crack and felt the blood start running down his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Laura reaching for the gun, and letting go of Joe's waist, he quickly grabbed onto the boy's injured shoulder and using all his strength, sank his fingers in._

_Joe screamed in pain and dropped to his knees as Gerry whipped out a knife and placed the edge against this throat growling at Laura, "Drop it or I carve the boy up like a thanksgiving turkey"._

_He pressed the tip in enough to draw blood and was rewarded by the sheer look of terror in Laura's eyes before she dropped the gun to the ground and stepped back._

"_Fenton taught you too well, boy", he snarled squeezing a bit tighter, "Now…I can't have you making a nuisance of yourself while I talk to your mother about some old unfinished business, can I?" His eyes quickly looked around for something to do with the boy, and then he grinned as he saw the closet._

"_That'll do just nicely", he said pulling Joe to his feet. Laura looked down at the gun but she didn't dare make a lunge for it because she was too afraid that she wouldn't be able to stop him before he hurt her son, so she just watched in growing horror. Gerry pulled out a pair of plastic police restraints and put them on Joe's wrist, cruelly pulling on his injured arm until the boy cried out in pain. He then pulled off the sling and stuffed in into his mouth to use as a gag._

"_Sorry about this", he apologized sarcastically, "but your screaming and hollering might just disturb the neighbors". And then he pulled the boy to the coat closet and roughly shoved him in._

_Joe immediately started throwing himself against the door but it was an older closet with a heavy, solid oak door and it didn't budge. It was the same closet that Joe used to hide in all the time when he and Frank were younger and were playing Hide and Seek. The only problem with this hiding place was that he would always have to wait for Frank to find him because there was no handle on the inside for him to get out on his own!_

_After a few attempts, his shoulder, already sore from the scuffle with Gerry, was throbbing too painfully for him to continue so he pressed his ear against the door to listen to what was happening. As he listened he tried to spit the gag out of his mouth._

_Gerry turned to look at Laura as he stood with his back against the closet door for a few minutes, "Well my dear, I must say you are looking as beautiful as ever"._

_Laura didn't say anything as she just glared back trying to think of a way out of this. She knew she couldn't leave Joe so she would have to try and think of way of disabling the man so she could get her son and get out of the house._

"_Why are you here?" she demanded although she was afraid of what his reason might be._

_Gerry came towards her and she backed up to the couch and caught herself before falling down onto it. He seemed amused by her response, "Oh come on Laura, you're a smart girl…guess". He reached out to stroke her face and this time she did fall onto the couch trying to get away and he was on her pinning her down easily with his weight._

"_NO!" she screamed and brought her knee up into his groin. Gerry rolled off her in pain and she jumped up off the couch and made a dash for the closet door but Gerry was too fast. Still half doubled over, he grabbed her as she tried to run past and flung her against the closet door._

_Joe jumped back as he felt the impact of her body against the door. Gerry then pounced on her and pinned her arms against the door and Joe could hear him heavily breathing as he said menacingly to the terrified woman, "We can do this the easy way…or we can do this the hard way…but one way or the other, I am getting what I want." _

_Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Joe started flinging himself at the door as he realized what Gerry was going to do. _

"_Can Joey come out to play" Joe heard Paul's voice taunting him again – NO! No one was going to do that to his mother!_

_Gerry grabbed Laura's arm and pulled her towards the kitchen as he heard Joe throwing himself at the door and heard the hinges squeaking – he knew he was running out of time._

"_Damn", he growled to her and then backhanded her as she tried to struggle out of his grasp, "That boy of yours just doesn't know what is good for him…does he? Oh well, I will take care of him first…and then we can continue our little fun". _

_They heard the sound of the wood splintering as Joe finally burst out of the closet. Spitting the gag onto the ground, he stumbled towards the kitchen although he wasn't sure how he was going to help his mother with his hands still handcuffed behind his back – but he would try…damn it he would die trying!_

_Gerry pulled a syringe out of his coat pocket and quickly uncapped it and just as Joe burst into the kitchen, he jabbed it into Laura's arm and then turned to face the boy._

"_MOM!" Joe screamed as he saw Gerry inject her and then his mother fell to the ground, _

"_NOOOOO!" He rammed his body into Gerry but at the last moment, the man brought his knee up and kicked Joe in stomach forcing the air out of his lungs._

"_Enough already", he said and with one brutal blow to the side of the head, the youth dropped to the floor out cold._

_Laura, on the brink of darkness, saw this and tried to crawl to her son but Gerry deftly picked the boy up and flung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He walked to the kitchen door and then turned to her and said, "Keep the bed warm, darling – I'll be right back!" And the last thing Laura Hardy saw as she faded into the dark was her son going out the kitchen door on the back of a madman…_

_**phx**_

For a few seconds after the distraught woman finished speaking no one said anything. Ezra Collig, tightlipped, motioned for Con Riley to follow him into the hall. Con had taken been taking down notes on what Laura told them but right now all Collig wanted to do was check in and see if anyone had found Moore of the missing boys yet.

"That still doesn't tell us how the Prito boy got involved in all this", Con said after they stepped into the hall. His superior officer sighed and rubbed his hand over his tired eyes.

"I'd don't know but right now I am assuming that he ran into Moore while he was still at the house…whether it was when he was leaving with Joe or when he came back to toss Laura in the basement…I don't know. All I can say for sure is that when we find Gerry Moore, we might get some answers about all this".

"Or at the least, two boys", Ezra Collig finished.

_**phx**_

Frank left the room to give his parents some time together and to try and clear his head. Now he knew for sure that Gerry Moore had taken his brother, he was more worried then before. His father had made it very obvious that Moore hated him and there was no telling what he would do with Joe.

Would he treat Joe like a son…or kill him because his hatred for Fenton was stronger then his bond to a boy he never knew existed? And how did Tony fit into all this? Did Moore take him or was Tony missing because of something totally unrelated and were they wasting valuable time finding him because they were assuming that he was with Joe?

Frank sighed heavily – there were too many unanswered questions…_where the heck are you guys?_

_**phx**_

Chet Morton was so involved with playing MINESWEEPER that he didn't even notice the fax come in until the machine beeped signaling that a fax had been received.

He saw the letterhead and then grabbed it, "BIFF! I've got the fax, let's go!"

The muscular blond haired boy came down the stairs, two at a time to met his friend at the door. He had been lazing on Joe's bed reading comics when he heard Chet's voice.

Seconds later, they had grabbed Joe's keys, locked the door and were driving towards the hospital.

_**phx**_

Frank had just come back into his mother's hospital room when the phone rang. His father was helping his mother who had just come out of the bathroom so Frank answered the phone.

"Hello" he said.

Fenton Hardy, a gruff voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Dad it's for you", Frank said and handed the phone to his father.

"Fenton Hardy here".

Well Fenton isn't is nice to hear your voice again Frank saw his father's knuckles go white from gripping the phone so tightly and he was instantly alarmed.

"Where's my son you bastard", he said fighting to keep his voice under control when all he wanted to do was reach through the phone and strangle the man on the other end.

Frank was torn, he knew he should be calling Collig and Con Riley but he also wanted to stay – this was the man who had his brother and possibly his friend!

Your son? Gerry roared Don't you mean my son! Something else you managed to steal from e…not bad enough that you took Laura from me but then to take my son!

"Laura was never yours to take!" Fenton roared back and then clammed up as he heard Gerry's next question.

But that's the past, my friend…let's talk about something more current, shall we? Say about something of _yours _that I have?

"Let Joe go, Gerry – this is between you and me", Fenton tried to reason thinking he was talking about Joe but then Gerry scoffed.

This has nothing to do with my son…. let's talk about _your_ son…you remember him don't you Fenton? How does it feel to have something stolen from you right out from under your nose? I have Frank, Fenton but the question is for how long? Gerry started laughing manically before he clicked off leaving Fenton staring open mouthed at the phone.

"Fenton", Laura asked as a knot grew in her stomach from the look on her husband's face, "What's wrong?"

"Dad?" Frank asked also growing alarmed – something must have happened to Joe and Tony already…

The Chief and Con came back into the room as Fenton turned to look at Frank and the horror on his face made everyone shudder…but not as much as the words that finally came from his mouth.

"Gerry has Tony…but he thinks Tony is Frank".

It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room as Fenton Hardy proclaimed the death sentence for Tony Prito.

To Be continued in "Precious Cargo".

Phoenix 

49


End file.
